Infection Kills
by A Friendly Hunter 2
Summary: Just a normal high school student, soon this young adult will be thrown into a world that is not only entirely new to him, but he will also not remember his past. Will he find his family? Or will he pass them by without a second thought? This is a story of a man, who has somehow survived an apocalypse by becoming the very thing that caused it.
1. Running

**Infection Kills**

A/N: So, I've decided to start a new fan fiction and actually FINISH IT, yeah I know. Crazy right? Anyhow, if you've read any of my previous fan fiction. It's the same old comfort zone of Left 4 Dead, of which my persona originates. This new hunter main character is more up-to-date with my persona design. And should get much more interesting as the story progresses into, hopefully, a sequel. But I won't make any promises.

I will be typing this on my new iPad, which is one if the reasons I got back into this because it is so much more convenient to use.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy, if you like it leave a review, if you don't. Then you don't, you won't get maimed for disliking this so don't worry. Be constructive, and strict. I prefer it.

Also, sorry for rushing through the intro I just really wanted to get to the infection part of the story.

Chapter 1: **_Running_**

September 20th, 2011

"Another day, another failed job interview." I say in disappointment as I walk out of yet another business that refused to hire a Junior from high school.

_"What's next?" _I think as I scan my iPad looking for my schedule.

The only thing left to do was go to the store and pick up some groceries.

As much as I didn't want to, I had to pick these up for my Mom since she had recently had surgery and couldn't walk well.

As I walk, I see many, and I mean a lot of police cars pass by. One of them slows down next to me and says, "Kid, you should head home. Something might be going down soon." I reply with, "I'm just heading to the store real quick to pick up something, I only live a couple of blocks from there, I'm sure I'll be alright." He nods, tells me to stay safe and then looks at his police radio and rushes to wherever it told him to go.

After I pick up the items, while on the walk home I see an ambulance, fire truck, and a plethora of police cars pass by. I was beginning to get worried, what had happened that they need so many units? To me, it looked like they were all heading for Mercy Hospital. Was there some kind of disturbance or quarantine?

I run home and my father opens the door and announces my arrival to the house. I look at him and say, "Has something happened? What's wrong?"

He looks at me in disbelief and says, "Have you not seen all the police? It's chaos at the hospital!"

_Bingo, I was right..._

"We'll, yeah but-"

"Well all we are happy about is the fact that you are safe. We thought the police were going to pick you up due to the accident."

"What accident?" I say.

"Some guy came to the hospital claiming someone had bit him, his ear was missing."

"Oh god..."

"That's not all, the news was down there to report on something but they ended up reporting the man."

"How is tha-"

"Let me finish, while they were interviewing him, on live TV, he bites the news reporter!"

"Why?"

"We don't know, but about half an hour later, the news reporter bites the doctor working on his shoulder!"

We hear sirens and we run outside to see what happened. We saw a lot of people running from other people. The people chasing them tackled them and bit them! And they noticed us next.

"Let's get inside!" I yell.

We run inside and close the door, but someone's arm comes through the crack in the door and stops us from closing it fully.

"Just close the other door and lock it!" I tell my father.

He quickly does that and goes to get mother. Just to be sure, I put on all the locks, not just the one lock my father used. I head down the hallway and saw my Mom come out and give me a hug. "I'm so glad you made it home!" She was crying. "It's okay Mom, I'm fine!"

"We need to leave." My Dad says, I go into the living room and see our neighbors trying to smash down our window, even their kids were trying to get in.

"Let's hop the fence out back and get out on the other street!"

We head into our backyard and me and my Dad get the ladder so we can get over the fence easily. We let Mom go first.

As Mom climbs, we hear a crash, and look back and see that not only had they already gotten into the house, but they had also already started to break the sliding glass door that leads outside.

I tell my Dad to go, and once he gets over the sliding glass window falls.

In a panic, I try to get over too quickly, and I almost slip and have to catch myself. I'm about to put my first leg over the fence but one of them grabs me and digs their teeth in my ankle. I'm able to break their grip and kick them right in the chin. Once I get over, my Mom checks my wound and says it's already infected.

"You're gonna have to leave me,"

"What?!" My parents both say in unison.

"You saw what happened on the news! People who get bit turn into whatever our neighbors turned into! I can't walk, I will be safer here if I don't make too much noise. Mom, go into the house and make me something to eat for later just in case you can't make it back in time with a doctor. I'll be fine here."

My mom does as I say, she leaves a variety of sandwiches in an icebox next to me, as well as a few water bottles. She looks at me with tears in her eyes, kisses me on the cheek. And they both leave.

As they leave, I'm only able to stay conscious for a few minutes before falling into the most unpleasant sleep I've ever slept.


	2. Awakening

I've been getting some feedback, and it's good to see! So here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 2: **_Awakening_**

I awaken, for seemingly the first time and I seem not able to remember how to move my body. I look around, I seem to be propped up against some sort of... Uhh...

My brain desperately searches for what this thing I'm propped against is. I couldn't remember, but I could swear I had seen this many times before. Whatever it was, it was rough, brown, and had green things hanging from it.

_What is this?... I should know..._

I decide to give up trying to figure out what it is and start scanning the rest of my surroundings. The first thing I notice is this red box next to me, I can smell meat inside, but nothing else.

I try to reach for it, but then remember that I had somehow forgotten how to use my arms. Once I get them moving, they feel extremely heavy and stiff. It takes me a few minutes to even get them comfortable. I also feel very weak and... hungry... Suddenly I kneel over in pain as I realize the extent of my hunger. And in the process I puke up this black ooze, which doesn't help my stomach or my mood.

_I need to get to that meat. _I think as I grab the red box and pull it to me. I examine it and quickly realize the white part on top is a lid, it takes a few tries but eventually I find a latch and I am able to open the box. Inside are a variety of white objects. In between each of these was some yellow material and... meat.

Quickly, I grab one, tear off its weird clear protective casing, and take a bite. It tastes weird, the only thing that tasted good was the meat, the other things tasted bad and foreign. I slowly finish the weird-tasting morsel and tear open another. This time eating it much faster. I was starting to get used to the taste, but didn't think I would ever enjoy the taste of the yellow squares.

I look inside again and count about 15 little treats in there for me, but I also notice underneath it was clear, cold, cubes. And within the cubes were clear tubes with faded wrappers around them. I dig one out of the freezing cubes, and quickly determine that it's purpose was to hold a liquid for drinking. I try opening it but I find it very difficult, I didn't know how. In frustration I claw it...

_Wait... claws?..._

I finally realize that I had not just easily torn the plastic coverings off of the treats, but sliced them open with razor-sharp claws. I had also cut the top of the plastic tube off, and it was a very clean cut too. I ignore my new surprise for a brief moment as I practically chug the contents of the plastic tube. Afterwards, I feel much better. And begin to feel stronger.

After eating, resting, and more eating. I finally finish the last of the food, and I feel strong enough to attempt to stand. I plant one foot on the ground and use my hands to gain leverage against the tree. I plant down my second foot and wobble a bit, but keep my balance thanks to the tree. I realize my foot hurts slightly, and I wonder why. It shouldn't, I don't recall getting hurt in my first few hours of living. I hadn't hurt myself so what had caused it?

I decide to ignore the pain rather than question it and begin to take my first steps, slow at first. I stumble a few times, but I get better quickly. I decide to head towards the building to the right of me, it was the only place I could really go that was new anyway. The door was open, so I just walked inside, I don't think I would have been able to open it anyway. I look around and see more white squares on a table, I also see empty containers that smell like meat.

_So this is where the food came from..._  
I decide to continue walking out through another door and found myself outside at the front of the building, there was nobody around.

_There should be people... right?_

I honestly had no idea, this world was strange, nothing made much sense. Like, how could I vaguely remember things I had never seen before in my whole couple hours of life? I decide not to question things any further and head towards a metal contraption sitting on a cement road in front of the house.

It has a... _windshield_, yes! A windshield! I don't understand what it means but I know that's what that shiny transparent thing is in the front of the... _car_, yes, a car! I am on a roll! I reach out and touch the windshield, and the car makes a noise. It startles me, it was loud but quick. This time, I hit the windshield, and it makes the noise again, but twice this time. I hit the wind shield harder, but don't realize my own strength as the windshield smashes entirely and it begins to send out a very cacophonous series of alarms.

As I slowly back away, I hear screams. Lots of them. And suddenly I am surrounded by people, some missing arms. Some missing entire sides of their faces. Terrified, I run.


	3. This New World

Enjoy this extended chapter! I couldn't find a good place to end it, but I did eventually! Enjoy!

Chapter 3**: _This New World_**  
- - - - - - - - - -

I am able to lose the monsters by running down an alley and sliding under a large cardboard box once they lost sight of me. I held my breath as they ran straight past my improvised hiding place. I wait there for the longest time, not sure if I want to leave the temporary safety of my hiding spot only to be potentially found again by the monsters.

After about a half hour of waiting, I finally build up the courage to sneak a peek at the state of the outside world. I look around, and see many, many tall buildings.

_...Skyscrapers..._

There it was again, that voice in my head that knew things I didn't. Where does it come from? I put that thought into one of the deep recesses of my mind to save for pondering later. Right now, I had to figure out how I'm going to live in this new world.

I see a metal contraption hanging off the side of the building I was hiding next to.

_... Fire escape..._

I decide to climb the so-called "Fire escape" so I could get a better look at the city from the top of the "Skyscraper".

Once I reach the top of the building, I look down at the street below. In the distance I could see a horde of the monsters running somewhere. I look at the building across the street from me, and I suddenly get the urge to jump for some reason.

_"Why would I want to do that?"_

My legs tense up and I instinctively lean forwards but catch myself. I look at my legs and I realize I have crouched down and was sitting on my haunches. I could feel power building in my legs, and for some reason I kept thinking I could actually make the jump across the street to the other building.

_"Well, if this doesn't work, I won't have to listen to this voice in my head..."_ I thought.

I get into a fully crouched position, tense up my legs more. And leap with all my might.

As I fly through the air, feeling weightless. A sense of joy overcomes me as I feel the wind in my face. I then realize I need to focus on landing on the building and panic and look in the direction I am flying. I send my arms out to try to cushion the fall. I hit the roof of the building, bounce once. Then I find myself hanging on for dear life.

Not only had I made the jump, but I had almost completely overshot the building! I struggle to climb back onto the buildings roof, but I do eventually get back to safety. I lay on my back and breath heavily, that was a very scary moment for me. How had I been able to jump so far? It seemed like whatever I just did wasn't natural... but I liked it.

I decide to test my newfound power, and I practice jumping from building to building in a sort of race to this one very big skyscraper with the name 'Mercy' on the side of it. I make it there in a matter of minutes. I sit down and dangle my legs over the side of the building to rest. And I bring up a question I still didn't have an answer to.

_How am I going to survive?_

I haven't seen any food just laying around so what could I eat? Where would I sleep? I had no idea where to go to get the materials needed to survive. Also, I remembered the sandwiches from a few hours ago. I had only liked the meat, so does that mean I only ate meat? That sure made things a lot tougher. The only things I've seen with meat so far were the monsters, and... no, I wasn't going to do that. I guess if I could find a store, thanks voice in my head, I could find something to eat. But I had no idea where to start looking or what one even looked like. Also, speaking of food, I was getting hungry again. The long distance jumping I had been doing drains energy quickly, I needed to find something to eat.

I checked all over the city, but I couldn't find any meat. Everything had been taken from the stores, and the stuff that wasn't was rotten. There was nothing for me to eat. Anywhere. I was going to starve if I didn't get any food. My stomach constantly reminded me of my predicament as I tried to find food.

Suddenly I smelled something, and it smelled sweet and delicious.

In a haste I risked the consequences of jumping to quickly get to where the smell was, I saw a campfire burning. And a group of actual people were eating! Where had they found this food? Had I simply not looked hard enough? From up here, I could see they had a lot of food. So I decided to go introduce myself to them, maybe they would give me some? I was getting hopeful that they would. I jumped down, silently. And I crawled towards them. I opened my mouth and tried to say "Hi" but I **couldn't**, I could only growl. I couldn't speak! I sounded like one of the monsters, and that means they might think I am one!

Startled, they all quickly turn in the direction if the noise. And they all pull out these small metal objects

_Pistols... bad..._ The voice in my head says. They all look at me in fear, as I do to them. They looked at me as if I wasn't human. Knowing I can't speak, I instead wave at them in a friendly gesture. As I raise my hand the one closest to me takes a step back and says, "Back off!" In a very rude tone. I instinctively growl. Growl? Why? I see the other three people reposition their guns so they are pointing at my head. I feel more scared of these guys then the monsters, I had nowhere to run. I didn't have the strength to jump anymore either. I was stuck in a closed space with these dangerous people!

I begin to back away, knowing eventually I would hit a wall. At this point there was nothing else I could do. My back was against the wall, I was looking down the barrel of a gun. At this point, I knew what was coming. Death. I moved so my side was against the wall and I refused to look at them, I looked at the ground and, fearing pain moved my hand up to feebly attempt to stop anything that could hurt me. My breathing accelerated from it's previously very calm state. And I closed my eyes and waited.

I could hear whispering, something about, _'Not being as aggressive as it should.'_

The pain never came, if I believed it would not have been painless, but I know that I would have felt something. If anything, they were probably waiting for me to look up and see the look on my face before they shot me. But as I sat there and waited, it became all the more apparent that that was not that case at all. They had no intention of hurting me? They were still standing there, whispering among themselves in a tone of voice I couldn't hear. But I knew it was about me. I kept picking up on the same word they kept using, 'human'. I had no idea what they were implying, of course I was human... Or was I? I don't see them as being able to leap great distances and fall from great nights unscathed, but I could. It was strange thinking of myself in this way, as not being human. But, if I wasn't human, what was I? They treated me like one of the monsters, so was I a monster myself? I knew one thing, if I was, I was nothing like the monsters that chased me into the city. Far from it, even.

I hadn't noticed that in my deep train of thought that they had stopped whispering among themselves and were trying to get my attention. Slowly, I looked up.

The eldest of their group, their leader I supposed, took a step towards me. He said in a questioning but gentle tone, "Can you understand me?"  
I looked up at him, my eyes wide as I nodded very quickly. I could hear the man breath in heavily and saw him look at his comrades. Suddenly, the presumably youngest in the group, a female, stepped in front of him and extended her hand to try and get a grip around mine gently. I retreated my hand but, after thinking it over and realizing if I denied her I ran the risk of getting shot, I slowly gripped her hand, and she helped me to my feet. I found that I was having a hard time standing completely upright, I had to pop the bones in my back to be able to stand up straight. How long had I been crouched there? The sun looked like it had moved quite drastically compared to when I last looked at it. I looked back at the girl, she didn't seem very afraid of me while the others did. Even her body language was calm, confident, and relaxed. One of the guys in the back, sporting a leather vest looked at me like I was his next target or something. He scared me, a lot.

The female led me to the campfire and threw some more broken pieces of wooden crates into it to keep the fire alive. She beckoned me to sit next to her, and without hesitation I complied. As I sat, my stomach growled quite loudly, and the girl heard it and bit her lip and looked at her friends who were also coming to sit down. But cautiously. She looked towards the oldest one and said, "Bill, he's hungry... What should we do?"  
The man looked at her and said, "If we have food to spare, give him some. I'm not sure if Hunters can eat cooked meat though."

Was that what I was called? A Hunter? I didn't feel like much of a Hunter. But if that's what I am, that's what I am. I guess. Mostly, I was just focused on the fact that I might be about to eat some food. Eagerly, I look to the female and hold my hands out. She looks at me and laughs, I could feel myself blush, and she gave me some meat. It was the same amount everyone else was eating, which made me feel good, they weren't going to not give me a fair share of the food they had just because I was a Hunter. I eat it quickly, not wanting it to be taken away from me or something like that, I finish very quickly. And as I looked up everyone was watching me. The man in the leather vest was frozen drinking his water bottle in shock of how fast I had finished the meal. The female was just silently eating her food and looked up and said, "He hasn't eaten in a while, couldn't you tell from his thin stomach?" She was right, jumping took a lot of energy to do. I had to eat a lot just to be able to jump, however, I figured that as I jump more. My body would get better at using less energy for my jumping. I hoped that was the case, anyway. I liked these guys, they were rather accepting of me, for whatever reason that may be. But I knew I couldn't stay with them forever, if I did I might run the risk of dying if they run into any other people. So, after tonight, I figured I would move on after the meal and a good sleep. If I could, I would leave them something to thank them for their generous hospitality. But that was very unlikely as I had no way of properly communicating with them. Before we all went to bed, I learned the names of the other 3 people besides Bill. The kind females name is Zoey, and scary vest man was named Francis. And the other man with dark skin was named Louis, and as I listened to him, I realized he was quite the optimist. Which I enjoyed. Eventually I was able to get to sleep, and I was also the first to rise in the morning. I looked around, and got ready to leave, however, first I looked at Zoey, knelt down, and kissed her on the cheek, and in response. She smiled. I smiled myself and went on my own way, maybe I would run into them again someday? The idea of it was exciting. However, I still had one place I needed to get to that they probably weren't going.

Mercy Hospital...


	4. Just Like Me

(A/N:) I hope you guys enjoy these occasional special extended chapters. I enjoy really getting into the writing and have to keep going until I am able to leave off at a good point, I like leaving off at super big cliffhangers too! :D

Chapter 4: _**Just Like Me...**_

The hospital was already pretty close, it didn't take very long to arrive. Very quickly I realized that this was the tallest building in the city. It surprised me that a city such as this would need a hospital this tall, it was quite outrageous and unnecessary in my opinion. However, the voice in my head kept pointing me towards this hospital for some reason, and I immediately knew why walking through the front door. Posted on the wall was a notice, this notice stated this hospital was being used to evacuate people to safety.

_Parents... safe..._

Parents? I didn't have parents!... Did I? All I can remember is waking up propped against a tree! I didn't see any parents. Did they leave the food for me? Was their leaving the reason both the main doors to the house were open? The thought suddenly hit me, those monsters used to be people so... was I someone different in the past I couldn't remember? Was my past self the voice in my head? The more I thought about it, the more I believed that this was the case, why else would the voice in my head know so much I didn't ?

I walked through hallway after hallway, the many monsters ignored me. I traversed staircase after staircase. At around the 12th floor, I was exhausted. I could tell I wasn't an athlete in my past life, that's for sure.

I sit down against a wall and look at the ceiling while putting my arms behind my neck. _"I don't even know what I am meant to find here, the voice is what told me to come here... is this where it all started?" _ There were so many things in my head I wanted to be able to talk about to people but I can't speak! It infuriates me so much! I don't even know what infuriates means! It's the voice in my head feeding me these gibberish words! In agitation, I cover my face with my hand, and quickly retreat it as I cut myself slightly. Then I just look at my claws.

They weren't JUST claws, my fingertips bones have become pointy and have broken through the skin. The skin then closed around them and healed up rather smoothly. So now I have a very thick set of claws that cuts like a cleaver.

Then I remember my new jumping ability I found out I had. I look at my legs muscles and practice tensing them up. They moved very weirdly. It didn't look natural for the legs muscles to move like that for me. I guess when I changed, my leg muscles got reconfigured. Very strange. Suddenly, I see the bite mark on my ankle. I examine it and I do confirm it as a bite mark. That was why my foot was hurting when I woke up! That's where I got bit! Now all I had to figure out is where, and how, I got into the small enclosed outside space.

Suddenly I hear a very familiar growl, it sounded like the growl I made when I encountered those survivors yesterday. I turn my head and see a monster dressed in much of what I was dressed in, a hooded zip-up sweater and khaki pants, however, this Hunter had duct tape around their sleeves. I notice the hair first, it was long and the body had a thin frame.

It was a girl... And she looked _beautiful_. She approached me confidently in her crouched state, and I did the same, we got so close to each other I could smell her fragrant scent emanating from her hair. We sniffed each other while we circled. I liked it, I was actually _enjoying_ it. But suddenly, she backed away. I looked at her eyes and she looked at me with disgust. Then I realize why. The reason the monsters chased me when I woke up was because I had just recently turned AND I had eaten human food. I still had my human scent. She must have smelled that girl Zoey on my lips from when I kissed her on the cheek.

Wanting to smell her fragrance more, I slowly approach her while making a very low and deep growling sound. I wasn't exactly sure how I was able to growl, it came naturally. But the sound I was making was even soothing me, it was very pleasant to the ears. She dropped her hurtful gaze and began to slowly approach me as well. Soon we were in the same position of smelling each other, except she ignored the human smell.

I didn't know why, but I felt a strong attachment to this girl. It wasn't a 'I feel like I knew her in the past' feeling it was more of me simply falling in love with her. She was beautiful, confident, and her scent was intoxicating. She also had a twinkle of intelligence in her eyes.

Me and her touch noses, and then I decide to test something. If I keep moving, will she follow me? Suddenly, I break away and jump up a ledge to an inside balcony. I look in her direction and she's just watching me. I decide to break line of sight, so I run up another flight of stairs and when I reach the top...

She was already there.

I look around and see an open elevator shaft, there was a similar elevator shaft downstairs, she jumped up the elevator shaft to stay with me. She was smart, she knew her way around very well. I went and crouched down beside her and I sniff her scent in deeply again. She then leans forward and... _licks me. _I jump back a little, surprised more then anything else. She looks at me and smiles a large smile. Then she pounces me and keeps me on the ground, I struggle but I am eventually able to reverse the grapple on her and then she gets me on the ground again. I realized that she was playing with me almost immediately. But I was having fun!

I suddenly feel warm liquid on my face. The playing had opened up the cut I gave myself and had also accelerated the bleeding due to faster heartbeats. She licks my face again to clear the blood and then gets off me. I get up, not knowing why she has freed me. But accepted it nonetheless. She was pretty spontaneous, I liked her randomness, it was entertaining. I was just wondering if she would stay with me forever. Sure she had followed me, but, why exactly? Was it because she knew I wasn't like the other monsters? Or simply because we were both Hunters? Or, other reasons... but that was unlikely in my eyes.

Maybe I had a pleasant scent she could smell like how I could on her? That was more likely. Maybe that scent was so we could find each other to become partners and... _'hunt' _together? I honestly didn't know.

I decided to continue moving through the hospital, with my partner by my side. I was going to enjoy another's company, I was feeling alone after leaving the survivors. She helped fill that void, and I was attracted to her.

We found an elevator,and as we got in the voice in my head told me to hit the button at the very top of the panel on the inside wall labeled '49'.

We both jumped as the doors to the compartment closed and we could hear the elevator struggling to power itself in the absence of abundant electricity. It started moving up and I quickly got motion sickness. I saw a trapdoor in the roof and jumped straight through it so I was on top of the elevator. Once we reached the top, the elevator suddenly came to a halt. It hadn't completely reached its destination, however since we were on the roof of the elevator we were pretty much perfectly level with the door to the room ahead. I signal my partner to help me pry the doors open, and with surprisingly little effort we are able to force them open. Once the doors open, one of the monsters see me and mistake me for a human and rushes me. No longer afraid of them, knowing my power, I quickly slash straight at the monsters neck. Severing the head. I then pick up the monster as it is falling and throw it towards the elevator roof. It slides and stops right at the trapdoor, blood spewing from its neck was spilling into the compartment.

My partner growls in joy as I kill the monster. She must not care for them much either. I look around and see a generator. Not wanting to be trapped up here from the elevator not working, I open a panel near the elevator and use cables to attach it to the generator. I turn on the generator and the elevator suddenly jolts and finishes its ascent to the top. Good, now the elevator works again, that's helpful.

This floor was much different from the others, it wasn't finished being constructed, you couldn't really tell from the bottom since the building was so tall. There was a strong breeze blowing throughout the whole place, sometimes it gets very strong and actually pushes me a little. My partner holds me to keep me from moving or falling, and I do the same. Some of the monsters attack us, but most of them get blown off the building by the sudden gusts of wind due to their reckless running patterns. We actually enjoyed watching themselves suddenly lose control and slip, and then slide on their backs as they casually slide off the building.

We eventually reach this red metal door. It was left open. Curiously, we go inside, and I close the door behind us. I look around and see another red door, and upon inspection, I find that I am unable to open with my limited knowledge of human devices, which really surprises me due to the fact I was able to hook up an elevator to a generator. I go to the door we just came from and I wasn't able to open that door either! We were trapped in this room with no way out!

A few hours pass and the sun had set over the city. My partner was fast asleep in a corner, however, I was keeping watch. I didn't feel like we belonged in here, we were sitting ducks!

Another hour later I hear the creaking of the elevator going down, it was pretty close by, and sound echoed heavily in here. About 4 minutes later, I hear the elevator reach the top again, as well as the generator giving out. Someone was coming.

My partner wouldn't wake, even when I shook her. She must be a very heavy sleeper. I hear gunshots, and someone yells, "Reloading!" I could hear their footsteps, and the constant sound of gunfire. I hear one of them yell, "Look, it's a safe house!" And I hear one of them trying to get into the room. Quickly, I hide in the practically pitch black corner my partner was sleeping in, and I wait. The first to enter was a girl.

Zoey!

Had I somehow managed to meet up with the same group once again? As they file in, it confirms my suspicions. What luck! Cautiously, once they believed they were alone. I slowly stand up and growl very softly. Frightened, they quickly look in my direction, one of them yells what I am. But Zoey looks at me and knows immediately who I am.

"Don't shoot! It's our friend!" She tells then quickly.

I nod in agreement, and that helps settle their suspicions. Zoey notices my partner, and they question me about her. I grab my throat to try and tell them I can't speak, and they understand. I am finally able to wake her up and I introduce her to Zoey. She recognizes the smell of her and she instantly accepts her. And with that, she also accepts the rest of the group.

The survivors plug in this box and put cold food objects inside it. Then they press on the buttons of the machine, wait a while, and the food comes out nice and warm. Zoey puts in some meat and heats it up for me. I promptly share half with my partner and we snuggle up together for warmth. Zoey is happy that I have found a friend. I am too, I don't know what I'll do if I ever lose her at this point. But while I have her, I was going to do everything in my power to keep it that way.

Zoey notices the cut on my face, and scolds me for 'getting it so close to the eye.' I had only missed my eye due to me reeling back after beginning the cut, I got cut from my eyebrow to my cheek on the left side of my face. She puts something on it that stings and she said would kill this thing called 'bacteria'. I trusted her, but I didn't like the stinging one bit.

Finally, everyone went to sleep, excluding Francis because he was taking guard.

What events would tomorrow hold? I didn't know, and given the situation, I'm pretty sure the rest of the group wouldn't either. Obviously when they got evacuated we wouldn't be able to come with them, but were they aware of this and not telling us? They knew I could understand them, but they had yet to mention this to me. Maybe they expected me to leave again in the morning. But I was stuck in here until they opened the door.

Morning came, and I was the first to rise again. Bored, I begin examine the various objects located on the tables, but find them either too complex or too weird to figure out what they were. It took a few hours for the others to rise from their slumber. The first to rise was my partner and Zoey, at practically the same time if not just a few seconds apart. Followed by the rest shortly after due to Zoey yelling at them to get up. They all got mad at Francis for falling asleep on watch and I couldn't understand half the words the old man Bill said, but Francis kept saying them back at him and they started to progressively get angrier and angrier at each other, Zoey assured me that they did this every morning, so I accepted it as a daily thing with them and moved on.

Me and my partner took point, I made a growl whenever I saw a moderate to large group of monsters that could potentially take them by surprise if I didn't alert them. There were a lot more here then anywhere else in the building. Did these guys get left behind by the evacuation vehicle? I wasn't sure. The others didn't question it one bit, they just kept moving on without asking questions, I guess it was like this everywhere for them.

There was another elevator shaft, a part of the same elevator we had taken previously except it wasn't finished yet, and we had to go around on the service path and take a ladder up. I went first up the ladder, followed by Zoey, Francis, Louis, Bill, and my partner last.

Looking around, we saw many, many infected scattered and roaming over every square inch of the roof. Some got pushed off, to which Francis chuckled every time he saw one fall. I looked towards Zoey and she looked towards Bill. Bill looked back at her and said, "Don't worry, we've been through worse, we can clear them out from up here. If they try to climb up we shoot them before they get to the top." Myself, being more impatient then anything else, decide to dive straight into the biggest group of monsters I could find, I wasn't scared of them anymore. I slashed, ripped, and tore through neck after neck. They all started to surround me, and I let out a scream and continue to slash, rip, and tear until there are no monsters left standing. The fighting had caused my hoodie to tear at the seams of the sleeves, I had to replace it the next chance I could.

The group carefully got down the ledge and headed towards the sound of a guy giving messages on a radio. He was the guy who was gonna airlift the group out of here and to the nearest safety compound.

Bill told the pilot to get here quickly, and upon pressing the button to reply to him coming in about 10 minutes. We could hear an alarm erupt from downstairs. The monsters were coming.

We quickly got set up. Zoey gave me a pistol, much to the disapproval of the other survivors, and told me to sit back and stop any other special monsters from harming them. I nodded and took refuge on a tall radio antennae to get a good vantage point of the area.

Suddenly, monsters burst out of seemingly nowhere and everywhere. It was hard keeping track of where the survivors were in the commotion. Suddenly, I was able to make out a figure silhouetted by smoke. It was _generating_ smoke. I got ready to dive for it, but it spotted me. I saw something extend out of its mouth and felt it wrap around my neck. He pulled me off my vantage point and I hit the cement ground with a large thud. He continued or drag me towards him until he was within arms reach of me, and once there he lifted me off the ground and used his rope like tongue as a noose. I was loosing air quickly. I started to violently scratch at his tongue and was able to, luckily, sever it.

I then proceed to pounce the strange monster and rip it to shreds. Besides his tongue his claws were his only defense, but they weren't half as strong as mine, not even close. After ending the monsters life, I look around to see how my friends were doing. My partner was currently trying to keep a morbidly obese fat monster off of Louis and Francis, while Zoey and Bill did their best at trying to stay away from the fat man. The fat man exploded after being popped by gunfire, luckily nobody was hit by the explosion. Suddenly I was pounced upon by another Hunter like me. Except this Hunter was... different. This Hunter had no eyes, the eye sockets were empty. How did it manage seeing things? I quickly shove it off and it looks at me in confusion. It knows I was like it, so it didn't attack me. Instead, it immediately dived for one of the survivors, Bill to be specific. Bill turns upon hearing the scream and shoots it right out of the air. I begin to hear the helicopter in the distance, but the survivors don't take notice. Maybe different levels of hearing? I didn't know.

The fighting continued for 8 minutes, and then we could see the helicopter in the distance. Then, I felt the ground beneath me shake.

Something was coming, and it was big.

A door leading downstairs into the building was torn off its hinges violently and out of it came. A giant, hulking monster. Louis was the first to spot it and yelled, "Tank!" Immediately the survivors killed all of the smaller infected around them and began to focus the Tank. I circled around the Tank and jumped on its back and began clawing at his eyes, it gets angry and attempts to body slam into the ground to stop me. I jump off before his back hits the ground, and the tank falls through the roof. It quickly heaves itself up again and focuses me. I very barely dodge it's plethora of punches and I jump away. I look back at it and it tears a chunk of building out of the wall and hurls it at me. I'm not able to move out of the way in time as it hits me square in the chest.

_"Please... Be safe..." _I think as I lose consciousness, and a Tank is running towards me. Closing in for the killing blow.


	5. Hidden Power

(A/N): Welcome back to the story! Sorry about the wait. Here is a semi-long chapter in which things happen! Enjoy! :D

(Also, if you ever want to play Left 4 Dead with me, message me on Steam. My steam name is 'A Friendly Hunter' (Obviously))

Chapter 5: **_Hidden Power_**  
- - - - - - - - - -

While I lay there, unable to awaken with a Tank rushing towards me. Something in my mind... snaps. I feel an immense and uncontrollable rage build up inside me. As the Tank brings it's fists up for the killing blow, my body is in control as I snap my eyes open and kick the tank in the chest with all my strength. I feel the muscles in my legs rip violently as I lift the Tank off its feet and off the edge of the building. I shriek in pain as I grip my legs. There was no way I would be able to walk for a while. The survivors, who watched me kick a Tank off a building, run to my rescue. Zoey picks up my arms and Bill picks up my legs and they carry me to the helicopter platform while Francis, Louis, and my partner hold the infected at bay.

The helicopter circles the hospital once and then hovers close to the destroyed helicopter pad. They put me in first, then they all follow suit.

As the trip goes on, they kept talking about how I was even physically able to lift a Tank. To be honest, I wasn't even in control. It was all instinct. But it made me wonder, what were the limits of my powers? Since my muscles ripped, they were going to come back even stronger. But I had no idea how long it would take for them to heal, they ripped very badly. But I was still able to somewhat move my legs so the chances of them healing into some sort of working order was slightly higher.

Bill stumbles slightly due to a strong gust of wind and his arm rams my leg muscle, I shriek in pain and instinctively make a pathetic sounding yelp right afterwards. Zoey hugs me to help me calm down, and it works.

How was I going to be able to stay with the group? Once we got to the compound, me and my partner will either be killed, or forced to leave. The only problem is, with my legs the way they are I wouldn't even be able to leave! I was doomed to die at this rate.

The helicopter pilot started talking about a pickup that he had attempted earlier that had failed. A few minutes later, he started saying the he wasn't feeling very well. His scent changed, it reminded me of the monsters. He was turning.

Suddenly, the helicopter pilot attempted to leap at Zoey, but the seatbelt stopped him. Zoey pulled the pistol from my pocket, and fired.

Very quickly after the pilot died the helicopter started to veer, Bill quickly moved to try and desperately get the helicopter under control. I wasn't being held in place like everyone else, and once the helicopter veered to far in one direction, I slip out of the helicopter. And I scream back at them, but my voice is lost in the wind.

I hit the asphalt with a very loud thud, my breath gets blown out of my lungs and the ground beneath me cracks. I can feel blood on the back of my head and I was certain I had broken at least one rib. As I struggle to find air, I look in horror as I see the helicopter go down a few blocks away.

"No! They must live! They can't die!"

I am finally able to get some oxygen into my lungs, and almost hyperventilate trying to get more oxygen into my blood. Unable to walk, I crawl through the nearest open door and close the door behind me. I was in an apartment building, maybe I could find a place to recover here? I use my upper body strength to climb the staircase and I go through the first open door. The room was messy and open. And if anyone found me in here that was hostile I would be at their mercy. I see a closet door and crawl over to it and open it. It was roomy in there and much of the clothes had fallen onto the ground, it looked rather comfortable. I cautiously crawl in and get comfy. I make sure my back is straight so my bones can heal somewhat correctly, I close the door, and I go to sleep.

I have a dream

I'm walking, with a black device in my hand, and a car pulls up next to me. Inside is a cop and he tells me to go home. I can't hear what I say as the cop nods to me and speeds off. The dream ends there as I wake up.  
I stand up and... wait, stand? My leg muscles were already healed! They were still a little sore, but it was barely noticeable. What healing factor I posses! I was certain that my legs would a take a week at the least to heal back up to working condition. I had no idea I would heal this fast! Not even my ribs felt broken anymore, but I didn't want to push my luck. I stretch but feel pain, so my ribs weren't as healed as they seemed, I would have to be careful.

Stepping outside, I saw the crack in the asphalt, more like crater. How had I survived the fall? Not only was I thrown out of the helicopter, but being thrown had made me fall almost at terminal velocity. I should be dead right now, I'm sure everyone else thinks I am! Now I just had to make my way to them, if they had survived the crash course they had taken themselves.

It was very lonely without my partner. My heart longed for the presence of her. We had made a connection that was almost unbreakable in only one day, were we meant for each other? I felt like we were, if only we could communicate past growls, grunts, and snarls. I wanted to learn the human language again, but how would I tell a human this? Only a human would be able to teach me, I couldn't read, I could only understand the language vocally. Maybe I would try to ask Zoey if I ever found her again, she seems to be the most likely candidate for accepting a monster as a student. She was just so accepting of me and my partner.

I keep walking, and walking... and walking... honestly I was getting bored, there weren't even any infected around. Also, I was getting hungry, I didn't know where to find food still, the survivors had fed me so far. And like hell I was going to eat a monster if I saw one. I decided to try scavenging around to try and find something to eat, but to no avail, everything had been picked clean of every shelf, cabinet, and drawer in every house I checked.

I risked disturbing my leg injury and hunger by jumping to help get to where the crash was. While jumping my hoodie sleeve got caught on some weird metal object, and the torn seam got much bigger, and the sleeve fell off of my arm. I would find a replacement for my hoodie when the time was right. For now, I had to find my partner and the survivors,

I very quickly regret my decision to jump after my first four. My leg muscle was not ready and it got swollen very badly very quickly. Also, my body had not yet gotten used to jumping, my body was draining my energy faster then I could replace it with food at this given point of time. I was forced to stay grounded until I found the others.

It takes a good chunk of the next hour to find the crash. Eagerly, I run up to see if everyone made it and, sure enough, they had already set up camp next to the destroyed vehicle. On the vehicle I could see torn metal, my partner had helped them get out.

Upon inspection of the camp, however, it seems they had already moved on, probably assuming I was dead. Inside one of the tents fashioned out of a slightly torn parachute was a bag that held a half eaten hamburger that I quickly scarf down as if it were nothing. I needed more.

Nearby they had propped the body of the dead pilot on a wall. Then I had a thought, if the survivors moved him there, their scent might still be on the body. It was worth a try. I get close to the corpse and smell in deeply. It smelled terrible and it was overpowering, however, one scent made it through clearly.

Zoey

She had been the one that propped the pilot against the wall, maybe as a way of saying, "Sorry I shot you in the face."

Now that I had Zoeys' scent, I began sniffing around for a similar smell and attempt to follow it. I looked very much akin to a dog or wolf in the way I did this I realized quickly. But, that did not deter me, I was hot on Zoeys', and by extension the groups, tail.

As I found more of Zoeys' scent, I also started finding little scraps of food on the way. It was all from the same thing, a semi-stale loaf of bread. The survivors had probably left this for me to help find them, probably not knowing I could sniff them out. For now, all I cared about was the fact that if I followed Zoeys' scent I would get rewarded consistently with something I desperately needed, food. As I was gnawing on a particularly hard piece of bread, my heart suddenly tries to jump out of my chest as I hear one of the loudest booms in my life. It was a mile or two away, but since my ears are super sensitive, it sounded like I was listening to if past max volume with headphones on. I fall on the ground as I grip my ringing ears and rub my temples.

"I don't think I can take much more punishment, I'm in so much pain already, it's just going to make me want to wish I hadn't turned into a monster in the first place!" I think as I try to pick back up on Zoeys' trail after the ringing stops. I constantly get thrown off the trail until it's no use to follow it anymore when I see them running across a bridge. Excited, I run to try and catch up to them. But I'm caught up by this girl, crying, and walking towards me.

I look at her closely and very quickly I realize that she one of the monsters. She had foot long claws on her hands absolutely soaking in blood. I decided to not even try to fight her. I didn't even look strong and I could lift a tank. She, however, even with thin limbs she looked strong... and, scary even. I decided to leave her alone, I personally think it was for the best.

I kick off a wall and I am able to push up and climb up the side of the bridge. Doing this 'wall kick' I didn't need to charge up to leap. But I used a bit more energy. However, I figured it was worth it to be able to catch back up with the group. They had already disappeared though. I frantically look around and I can see the traces of them, but not the exact path they had taken once they got off the bridge. However, by following their scents, I was able to find them in a safe house inside a warehouse. They had already treated any wounds they may have gotten and had gone to sleep. So I decided to wait nearby until morning. If I showed my self now, in the dark, they might mistake me for another Hunter and potentially kill me. Especially since they thought I was dead.

I find a nearby house and using the same method I had used last night, I find the closet and make a bed out of the clothes in the closet and the blankets and pillows from the bed. Nobody would need them. I settle in, and I fall asleep much easier than the night before.

I had another dream, in it, I see the faces of older people I don't know. They were in the small inclosed space I had begun my life in. They looked worried, but for me. I watched as the male pulled out a gun and pointed it at me. Tears were in both of their eyes. I attempt to get up, but the male hits me in the head and I fall back down, about to lose consciousness. I hear the female say, "Let's just leave him, let him live! We'll be gone before he wakes back up. We can't kill our own-" the male interrupts her and whispers something I can't hear. And I hear them walk away before I enter the black void of my dream that becomes a nightmare I can't remember.

I awaken in a cold sweat with a shout that sounded more like a snarl. My heart was beating quickly, and I felt like I was out of breath when I really wasn't. I had had a nightmare I couldn't remember. I get up and I notice a hoodie among the pile of clothes. It was navy blue, and felt very comfortable. I quickly try it on, and it is just slightly too large. I really wanted this hoodie as my replacement for my current grey, torn, and very dark grey hoodie.

I decide to loot some drawers around the house to see if I could find anything useful. I find some very sturdy and simple brown leather gloves. They were very unique, they had pieces of metal in the fingertips, probably to protect while doing labor intensive and dangerous things. I realized that if I wore these, I wouldn't hurt people as easily. I quickly put them on, they felt good, the metal was covered in leather so it wouldn't cut skin. And, the shape of the metal made my fingers look like normal fingers. It was perfect for fitting in.

Among other things I found, mostly they were all useless, was duct tape. I remembered how my partner had worn duct tape on her sleeves. Curious of this, I decide to try this. I replicate it almost exactly to memory, and then I head out to test it.

I was only a block away from the survivors. As I leaped, I realized I was flying much farther then normal for some reason, even after my muscles repaired themselves. It must have been the tape! It must have made me more aerodynamic during my jumps. How interesting! This would help cut down on my energy usage required to jump.

I leap to the edge of the roof, jump off, and fall about 6 stories. I land on my feet, do a roll, and run to the location of the safe house. I arrived as they were just leaving, I freeze in my tracks as they all see me at once, and they all raise their weapons at me. My partner, however, leaps over them and tackles me in a very energetic and happy hug, and I hug her back just as enthusiastically.

The survivors look at me in shock, they had been so certain I was dead, I mean, I had fallen the equivalent of 20 floors onto my back. How could they not? Zoey runs up to me and joins in on the hug. It was a very touching moment, knowing people cared for me was such a great feeling.

"Sorry Hunter, your new jacket... it made it look like you weren't you. Sorry about pointing our guns at you." Zoey said. I nodded to show her that I had accepted her apology. The only thing I cared about right now, was being reunited with the survivors, and my partner.

... And food...


	6. Wolf Among the Sheep

- - - - - - - - - -  
Chapter 6: **_The Wolf Among the Sheep_**  
- - - - - - - - - -

We set out at noon after we all had breakfast. They were running low on food, but they assured me they would find some when I gave a look of concern. I doubted it. If I couldn't find any, what makes them think they could? I was very quickly dumbstruck as they entered a house and a few minutes later they came walking out with about 10 cans of food. Some big enough to feed up to 4 people. Honestly, I was jealous. I couldn't find that food because I couldn't smell it through the metal, I had to learn to trust in my vision instead of my other senses all the time.

While we were walking down the beaten dirt road we had found ourselves on, Zoey asked me, "So... how did you even survive the fall? I didn't know you could land so hard on something other than your feet and survive." I nodded in agreement, I didn't know how I had survived the fall, and I might not ever know for sure. I had seemed to be getting awfully lucky of late, I had done more things in the past 2 days that should have been out of my power to control then seemed physically feasible to do so. I wasn't going to say I wasn't glad I had survived, it just seemed like I should have died by now, what with my inability to find food and susceptibility of being very clumsy at times. But, I was still here, and I was glad I was.

I figured now would be the best time to at least try to ask Zoey to teach me English. There were no infected around during the day, they all wander inside due to the splintering temperatures of day in this area. I get her attention by tapping on her shoulder and I try to speak from what little I could remember. "T-tte ech m-ee." I say it very clumsily and slowly, I didn't know how sentence structure worked. Was it 3 words? I didn't know.

Zoey looked at me with a very surprised expression, the others had not heard me because we were walking farther behind them. She very quietly says, "Teach you... what?"

"Sp-ee ch" I struggle to say, I didn't even know if that was a word or not.

"Oh... well, I'm not much of a teacher but... You know what? Yes, I will teach you."

I was so happy I was able to sputter out words that had made sense to her. The voice helped me out a little. But now I had someone that would teach me, I was so excited to learn! Maybe I would be able to blend in with them in the compound if she taught me how to talk. Over the next hour while we were walking, she went over the 'alphabet' with me. She taught me this clever little song made out of all the letters in the English language. I was able to get to Q after the first half hour, but I couldn't properly pronounce it yet. She told me to skip it and move on, and I was able to say all the letters, except for Q. Now, she told me to go over them all by myself, but skip Q. As I said them, in a very hoarse voice mind you, she was humming the rhythm of the song as I went, if I got stuck she stopped it until I could pick back up with the rhythm again. When we got to Q, I actually pronounced it correctly, and she praised me for it. I was so happy I was learning, and I could maybe one day be able to speak with her in a pleasant conversation.

Her lesson came to a sudden halt as I tripped and reached out for a rear-view mirror of a nearby car for leverage. It broke. And a very loud alarm started emitting from the vehicle. Bill, Louis, and Francis looked at me in annoyance and I gave them a face that said, very plainly, "Oops."

The infected were coming, from all angles, and I was ready for a fight.  
Throughout the fight I focus on picking off infected that the survivors wouldn't be able to get without breaking formation. I hear a few bullets whiz past my head as I fight, but I wasn't scared. I trusted them. It took only 3 minutes to kill the last infected. The survivors did an ammo check, and then we continued on our educational journey. By the time we had gotten to the next safe house in a packaging and shipping warehouse, I was able to say simple, three letter words. We set up a fire outside after we secured the perimeter and we all sat around it, I sat next to Zoey and my partner.

They were all telling 'scary stories' to each other. I didn't understand how most of them were necessarily scary. They mostly just seemed to be cheesy, very cheesy. After the stories were over, we had food and then they roasted something called marshmallows. Zoey let me try one, and they tasted really good. I had a few more before I started to feel a little sick due to me not supposed to be eating food like that. While they were eating, however, Zoey told them about how I had attempted to tell her to teach me how to speak. And they looked impressed. Bill told me to say something, so I simply said, "Hi." Bill chuckled and said hello to me back. After that Francis tried to get me to swear, but Zoey said, "Don't even try to say that Hunter!" And so I didn't.

When we were heading to bed, I didn't want to go to sleep. I had had a nightmare the past two days. I didn't want to have to have another one. However, exhaustion took hold. And after another quick speech lesson, I was out cold.

I had a bad dream.

I was jumping away from another Hunter, I felt very scared. Looking back, the Hunter looked very strong and was very big in size, I didn't want to fight it. However, it eventually caught me at a dead end and I was forced to fight it. I stand no chance as it quickly throws me on the ground. I look up as he is leaping to give the killing blow and...

I wake up, clawing all around me. I hit Zoey as she gets up to see what's wrong. Luckily, I had my gloves on that protected people from my claws. Otherwise, Zoeys shoulder would be very badly damaged right now.  
Shocked, something inside my head triggers as I say, "Are you okay, Zoey?"

The next day comes, and I was not able to speak again, I didn't know how I was able to speak, but as far as I knew, that was the old me talking last night. Now, I was back to the simple three letter words. Zoey didn't forget when I spoke, none of them did. In fact, they tried to get me to say something again like that, but I wouldn't be able to do it unless something similar happened, I guess. For now I was just limited to my small vocabulary I currently had.

It took a good part of the day, but we finally got to the human compound. Before we entered, I told my partner to wait outside of the compound because she wouldn't be able to pass as one of them. Only I could. As we enter, they don't even bat an eye as I pass by them casually with the rest. I had my hood down low so they wouldn't see my paler skin.  
On the inside, we were all assigned beds in the same cabin. We didn't have to share the cabin with anybody, it was just us. As we got settled in, Bill and the others urged me to not draw attention, so that meant: No speaking until you get better at it, no leaping, moving around while in full crouch, eating like a wild animal, taking off my hood and, most importantly, no taking off my gloves. I agreed to these terms as I ran outside to examine the humans. Everyone outside looked much different then my humans. They were dressed much more casually, and weren't carrying guns around. They had all the things a typical town would have, a place to eat, sleep, bathe, talk, drink, and a lot more. As I looked around, I see a couple in the hastily made graveyard. I curiously go over to see what they were doing. They were standing over a grave, on it, it said, "In memory of Zack Vaughn" They notice me, and I see their faces and freeze.

They were my parents.

They didn't recognize me due to my hood being on, but they asked me, "Did you know our son? We miss him, so much. We know he's out there... As one of those... things." I look at them blankly and shake my head. I didn't know anyone named Zack. Not anymore. I was tempted to take off my hood, to tell them I was their son, but they would probably freak out. I turn around and walk away. From behind me, I hear, "I think I'm about to cry, he walks just like our son!" I freeze, and they notice. I look back at them, and take a very deep breath. And I, very slowly, take off my hood.

I hear them gasp in surprise more than fear. I just stare at them with my white face and blood red eyes. Very quickly they run over to me and embrace me, but when the female tries to kiss me I push her back. I wave my finger at her, and she realizes that if she kisses me she could become infected herself.

"So you, really did... change?"

I nod.

"Well son, can you speak?"

I shake my head.

"Why?"

I make a growling sound. And grip my throat, and they realize I had forgotten how, or maybe just can't physically speak anymore.

I lead them to my group, and they thank them for taking care of me, but they very plainly say that he had taken care of himself. And they told them about me falling out of the helicopter, me lifting the tank, and how surprised I was still here right now. They also explain how I wasn't like the other infected, I still had some very trace amounts of humanity left inside me, as well as the fact that I was a Hunter, and very dangerous.

Zoey also explained to them that I had forgotten everything I knew before turning, and that she was teaching me how to speak once again. They showed their disappointment of the fact that I could not remember them. I hugged them to show them I was sorry, and they embraced me tightly, thanking whatever it is that made me stay sane. I very slowly attempt to say to them, "I... l-ov e... yo-u." And they look at me and get tears in their eyes. "No matter what, son, we are proud of you. And we will always be proud of what you did in the past, and what you will do in the future without us."

I nod, and they leave very slowly, thanking everyone once again and waving goodbye to me. Later when I go back into town, the grave marker with my name on it, had been removed.

I found that I blended in here very well, and when the time was right, I would protect this place. Because not only was my group here, but the remainder of my family as well. And I would do anything to protect my new family, and my old family.

I just hoped this place was ready for a guardian, for their 'Wolf, among the sheep'.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
(A/N): Well, now it's going to get very interesting. I've been planning this fanfiction for a long time and, let me tell ya, a LOT of action is coming your way in the coming chapters, and then very big plot twists as we enter the sequel! Take care, I'll see you next chapter!


	7. A Dark Hero

Here is is the seventh chapter. Things are going a little slow until the next chapter but, don't worry. There is plenty of action to come in the future chapters!

- - - - - - - - - -  
Chapter 7:_** A Dark Hero**_  
- - - - - - - - - -

*1 year and 5 months after arriving at the compound*

Walking along the high encampment wall, I was able to see a good chunk of the city as I watched the sun appear off on the horizon. Everyday, at this time, I would come up here and watch this spectacle and feel the first rays of warmth to welcome the new day. I look down and I see the scheduled cargo truck that goes to make regular runs to the city to scavenge supplies. A few people were unpacking and, since I had nothing better to do, I decided to go down and help them. As I walk down, I'm greeted by the many people who have put their trust in the protection provided by these massive concrete walls surrounding camp. I hurry to the entrance and rush through.

Once I get to the truck, I ask a man casually, "Anything you want me to help you with?"

The man was named Ezekiel and I knew him well. He looked at me with a friendly smile and said, "Yeah, Hunter, could you help me lift this backup fridge we found for the governor?"

"Of course!"

Zoey had taught me well, while I still made simple grammar mistakes, I could now converse normally with humans. The only words I had trouble saying were ones that were hard to pronounce in general, or very long words.

I lift the fridge with little to no difficulty, but Ezekiel was having trouble lifting his side so I pretended to struggle as to not show my strength.

"So, how's Zoey?" He asks.

"She's doing well, she's been thinking of going with you on your runs to be able to have some more freedoms though. She doesn't get to do anything here besides watch the children, and it's starting to wear down on her."

"That's unfortunate. Well, you tell her that I am perfectly okay with letting her come with me as long as she promises not to get infected on my account."

"Ez, she's immune. Remember?"

"Oh yeah... well then there's noting to worry about is there?

"I guess."

We get to the governors cabin and set the fridge down carefully.

"What does the governor want the fridge for anyway?" I ask.

"He wants it for the ice maker. Summer is coming and he doesn't want to have to pay for ice."

"Oh okay. Well, I'll see you later Ez, I'm going to go tell Zoey what you said."

"Be safe Hunter!"

"Likewise."

The people here were very nice for the most part, except for the occasional bad apple. However, they probably wouldn't last an hour on the outside.

Me on the other hand, I could live out there just fine now that I knew how to find a reliable amount of food. Infected stayed out of my way mostly except for the few special infected that have territory issues, mostly Hunters. I also had my partner that stayed nearby wherever I was. Right now she was probably camped out on a building close to the encampment. I have begun to teach her English and she was almost ready to be passable as a human. The only thing was when I did eventually have to reveal myself as a Hunter to the people of the camp, would they accept both of us if they accepted me at all? That was one of the many reasons I had yet to reveal who I was to the people of the camp. I had formed a connection with everyone here. I even led new people to this camp myself. I was well respected among the whole community as a local hero of sorts. The population of the camp grew threefold since I had arrived here thanks to just me. It didn't seem like a big deal to me when I thought about it but everyone else admired me for my courage.

I take the familiar steps up to my cabin and enter quickly. Francis, Louis, and Bill greet me with friendly hellos. "Is Zoey done watching the kids yet?" I ask Bill. "No, I'm afraid not. You should go down there and help her though. The children adore you, you grabbing some attention can let her relax a little." I think it's a good idea and agree to go help Zoey. It would lessen the pressure of being the only woman in camp qualified to watch children.

I enter the old high school building and feel a chill of familiarity. This high school had always creeped me out since coming here. It felt like I had came here once before but could not remember it, like most things I could not remember. I entered the library and inside was Zoey reading a story for the children that obviously was not a book for children. But the kids absolutely loved it nonetheless. She was reading about zombies. "Reading that again, eh?" I tell her from across the room as I walk towards them. The children turn at the sound of the familiar voice and they all yell, "Hunter!" They all run up to me and tackle me to the ground. I laugh uncontrollably as they tickle me all over and I grab as many as I can and tickle them back. I look up and Zoey mouthes the words, 'Thank you' and I nod in reply.

After the children settle down. Zoey talks with me and tells me to watch them while she goes to get their snacks. I nod and she runs out, quite eager to be able to leave for a bit. I smile as the children ask me to continue Zoey's story. The story was pretty graphic. At one point it talked about a zombie 'ripping out a mans intestines' to which the children all went "Ewww!" I laugh and say, "What are you guys talking about? Intestines are delicious!" They children all react to, "Eww, no they aren't!" I laugh again, and then realize the irony to what I had just said. And I think, would I be eating things like people's intestines right now if I hadn't turned out the way I did? The aspect of that scared me.

We were getting to a really suspenseful part of the book when Zoey arrived with the snacks. I decide to leave them with a cliffhanger so they would be more willing to come tomorrow. Me and Zoey smile at each other when they all whine with a, "Awwww!" Zoey passes out the food, and I pour diluted fruit punch for them. We had to dilute it to make it last. As we ate, I was talking with Zoey away from the other children. "Well, I'm glad to hear he will take me, you could watch the children more now. They do seem to go absolutely insane when you do come by now and again." I nod and say, "There was also something else I wanted to talk about with you.", "Yeah, sure, what is it?" I hesitate at first and then I just quickly say it. "I think my partner is almost ready to join the rest of us in camp." Zoey looks at me in surprise. "Oh really? You taught her how to speak with that little of my help?" I nod with pride in being able to accomplish this. While she still needed a little work to not draw too much suspicion. If she played the 'shy new girl' act she would totally pass as human. At that moment, two kids that were sneaking up behind not only me but also Zoey as well pushed us into each other yelling, "Hunter and Zoey sitting in a tree!" The children laugh and I could see Zoey blush as well as feel myself blush as well. I chase the perpetrators around a bit and then after all the fun was over. The parents came and picked up their children. Now that we were alone we had to come up with a plan to get my partner into the camp. I came up with the idea that when Zoey went on her trip tomorrow. That my partner would follow her and then she would pretend to be a lost survivor and then Zoey and Ezekiel would bring her here and I would act like I knew her from a long time ago. Zoey thought it was brilliant. We talked a little longer about other things and I turned to leave and to go tell my partner the plan. When I turned, however, Zoey grabbed my shoulder and said, "Wait, Hunter..." I turn and begin to say, "Yeah, Zoey?" But I am stopped mid sentence by Zoey leaning in and kissing me on the lips. I turn even redder than before as I lean in as well to embrace her kiss with my own. She stops for a moment and says, "That first night we met you, I know you kissed me on the cheek while I was sleeping. Because I was awake for it, just pretending to sleep." I quickly look down, but she lifts my cheek and says, "It's okay, I love you too." And she and I lean in for another kiss. After a few seconds, I push her away and say, "I love you too Zoey, but right now I need to focus." And I then run off to try and get to my hunting partner.

'What am I going to do?, I think as I leave the compound. I do love Zoey, but I love my partner as well. Me and my partner... I believe that we were made for each other, but, I didn't want to crush Zoeys feelings for me either because she was the first person to accept me for who I really was. It was just something I would need to figure out on my own.

I arrive at my partners camp, and she leaps over to hug me and she says, "Welcome back partner of me!" I sigh and say, "There is no reason to say 'of me' but you are getting there!" She says thanks and embraces me in a tight hug. Then she kisses me on the cheek and says, "Any news on me getting into the compound with the help of you?" I cringe at how she had decided to word the sentence and say, "Yeah, Zoey is going on a supply run with Ezekiel tomorrow morning. I want you to be up very early so you can follow her wherever she goes. When she separates from Ez when they are looking for supplies. Go to her, and she will take care of the rest. Just obey everything she says. Okay?" She nods and stays silent. "Oh and one more thing, I've been thinking about what I should call you. Would you like a name?" She nods with excitement. "Okay, from now on, I'll call you 'Rose'. Is that okay?" Her eyes brighten at the sound of her new name and she says, "It's a wonderful and beautiful name, I will cherish it always!" I congratulate her on excellent sentence structure. Give her a kiss on the cheek. And then make my leave. "She's ready, she will be an excellent addition to the community." I say on my way back to the compound. I relish the fact that now when I wake up she will be right by my side. Instead of me having to leave the compound to see her. I just hoped she could adjust properly to this new life. But I'm sure she would be able to very easily.

Once I get back to the compound, one of the children Zoey was watching earlier approached me and said, "My mommy wants you to have dinner with us tonight!" I smile and say, "Sure, would you mind leading me to your cabin?" She nods excitedly and leads me into the E district of camp. This camp was full of people I had rescued. No wonder the girls mother wanted to have me over for dinner. I nervously enter the cabin and I am greeted by a familiar face. It was a the first person I had ever saved from the city. Her name was Beth. She was one of the very few people who knew I wasn't who I was pretending to be. "Hello Hunter!" She said in her usual perky voice as she hugged me, and I hugged her back. "Long time no see Beth! I see you have been reunited with your wonderful daughter.", "Yes! I am so happy that she was able to make it here alright. Thanks to you, of course. She was talking to me about you being in daycare today with your friend Zoey?" I point at the little girl and she giggles and runs off. I look back at Beth and say, "Yeah, I could sense she needed a break, so I took over for the second half of her shift.", "Well that's very nice of you Hunter." She said happily while setting her table for three. I look at her little girl named Elizabeth and say, "And you had fun today too didn't you Elizabeth?" Elizabeth replies with a big, "Yeah!" And Hunter could hear Beth laugh. Once the food was ready, Hunter had a very nice conversation with Beth. "I just can't get over how good you are with children Hunter! I bet Zoey sure does envy you.", "Yeah, she shows her jealousy at times. But mostly she's just glad she's able to take a break when I show up." We both laugh a little and I talk with Elizabeth again. I really liked having Elizabeth as a friend, I just wish I was able to hang out with her more. But she worked in the ammo factory that was created in what used to be the metalshop classroom on the high school campus. And only workers and authorized people were allowed to go over there. Even respected heroes couldn't. your..." She began. I remember what she was talking about and show her the scar on my arm I received when I rescued her. "It's healed nicely, and to be honest it was worth getting to save you." She looked at me with a smile and picked up the plates and quickly put them in the sink. She walked over to me as I was getting ready to leave and hugged me. While she hugged me she said, "Don't stop doing what you are doing, you make everyone you save feel good about living." And with that I took my leave. I decided to skip watching the sunset, and to go straight to bed for my reunion with Rose. I couldn't even go to sleep.

I was so excited for tomorrow.

(A/N) Now that the story is really starting to get somewhere, if you want you can leave a review detailing a character you want to appear in the story! I'm talking about both infected characters, good or evil. Or Survivors, good or evil as well! All you gotta do is give me his/her information. Here is what is required:

Name

Age

Human or Infected?

Appearance

Attitude/Mannerisms

Summary of the characters History

I look forward to receiving some interesting requests but please. Try to make it realistic in some way. Give me an explanation of why it could do extraordinary things in a logical sense as to not have any overpowered characters. See you all next chapter!


	8. And it All Falls Apart

- - - - - - - - - -  
Chapter 8: **_And it All Falls Apart..._**  
- - - - - - - - - -

I awaken so much earlier then I usually do that I only had really slept for an hour. Zoey was about to head out and I had to tell her good luck. Hopefully my teachings would be enough for Rose to pass as a human. I could only hope that this wouldn't cause the end to my reputation and my life. Feeling troubled, I went to go see my parents in the A sector. My parents had been the very first family to arrive at the compound, so as a result they were able to pick the biggest and roomiest cabin there was. I run up the steps and politely knock on the door. My original mother couldn't sleep so she was just listening to the emergency radio signal. She came over and, once she saw who it was, she happily opened the door and I gave her a hug. She kissed me on the cheek but I didn't kiss her back. I wouldn't risk her getting infected, and she understood this and didn't mind very much.

"So how is my son doing?"

"I've been doing good Mom, Zoey is about to go on her run and I just wanted to go tell her good luck. Still having problems sleeping?"

"Yes! These hot flashes are going to be the end of me, I haven't been able to sleep soundly for a few days!"

"Once the governors ice machine is ready you could go get some ice from him. He is grateful for all I've done around here and I'm sure he will give you some once it's ready."

"Really? That would really help me cool down! Good to know, thanks Zachary."

I frown at her, she used my false name again. The name I no longer went by. That wasn't my name anymore, it was the name of the voice in my head. My conscience from when i was still human. She realizes her mistake and quickly corrects herself.

"I-I mean... oh, I'm sorry Hunter. I know you don't like it when I call you, the name..."

"No, it's fine Mom, really. If that's who you want to remember me as, go ahead and use the name. I don't mind as long as it comes from you."

I hug her one last time before I depart and she begins to cry again. She missed her son, and I didn't have the heart to tell her I wasn't her son anymore. It depressed me and also confused me why I would feel like this. Why did I have to lose my memory and who I was!? Then again, this virus wasn't exactly gods gift to man. So that would explain why I was so changed.

I make it to the front gates just as Zoey is getting ready to leave. I go over the plan with her again and after she understands everything she is supposed to do she leans forward and gives me a kiss on the cheek. She laughs as she sees me blush and then gets in the car with Ezekiel. As they drive off, I see her stick her head out of the window and she waves bye to me. I wave back, eager for my partner to get here quickly.

It takes a few hours for them to get back, and as I wait I go get something to eat and then just wait on the encampment walls. This morning, I completely ignored the sunset. I was only focused on the road.

7 hours after they leave they return with a truck full of much more supplies than usual. They must have gotten a very good haul. As they step out of the truck, I run down quickly to meet Rose. But as I get to the entrance and push through. I smell the heavy copper scent of fresh blood.

My eyes go red, and I feel it happening and pull my hood down further over my eyes. I look at my skin and it begins to turn grey again. I run over to Zoey, and I see her...

Carrying Roses limp body. Covered in blood.

The whole camp comes out and circles around Zoey, Rose, and me. I, however, don't notice as I take Roses body from Zoey and lower her to the ground. I put my eat to her chest and I don't hear a heartbeat.

I suddenly can't take It. I feel tears gather in my eyes, and I look up and let out a deafening, "NOOOO!" The yell sounds very Hunter-like, and I hear everyone in the camp gasp.

As my hood falls off, and everyone sees my eyes, and my grey skin.

"Infected!"

"He's infected!"

"Kill him, he's infected!"

"Kill the Hunter!"

I look around in distress as everyone backs away from me and points fingers in my direction. What had I done to deserve this?! Had they forgotten my kindness? Had they forgotten that I SAVED ALMOST EVERY ONE OF THEM?!

"I don't care what you do to me! Get a doctor and don't let this girl die!" I yell at them all as they call the guards.

Elizabeth pushed her way through the crowd and tries to pull me away from Rose.

"Rose! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen! Please Rose, forgive me!"

Elizabeth and a few guards break me away from Rose.

"Forgive me!" I continuously yell as I am dragged back into the compound. I see a stretcher rush past me back to Rose. They were going to help her, that's all I could hope for.

I am carried to the research sector, here scientists study infected to find a cure. They literally tear off my hoodie and throw me into a specially designed government cell made to keep Hunters in. I crawl to the corner and put my head down and cry. They were goon to find out Rose was infected too, unless she could fake it. She had been able to overcome the sickness to the point her skin gained color again as well. But the smell of someone else's blood set you off again. Your skin would change color. I only hoped I had taught her well enough.

Inside the soundproof cell. I was slowly going insane. Nobody came to visit me, they probably weren't allowed to. And they fed me the arms of the dead common infected they experimented on. This exposure, or lack thereof, was causing me to become more wild. More like an actual Hunter. After a while, I forgot English. A week after that, I forgot about Zoey and the others. The only person on my mind was Rose. But I forgot her name eventually too. So I just referred to her as, 'that girl'.

They performed terrible tests on me. They basically tortured me with electricity and other such means. The didn't see me as a hero, they saw me as a monster. And I acted like a monster very much. I began lashing out at the smallest of things. The torture made me believe everything was a potential threat. The torture made me hate everything.

I'm guessing it was 3 months until the accident happened. A Tank attacked the compound and took out the power. All the infected in the lab, be it common or special infected escaped. Including me. Many people escaped. Little did I know, Rose had made a full recovery and had escaped with my family, Elizabeth, and Zoeys group. I just ran around in my mad state, attacking both humans and infected alike. Trying to vent out all of my irrational anger and hostility towards anything I could. I killed many, many creatures. I couldn't even tell if they were human or infected by the time I was done with their bodies. They were all just bloody and messy chunks of meat and bone. A perfect meal.

I was done with this dull place, I needed to hunt more. To kill more. There was no one left to kill, so there was no use staying here.

I followed a familiar scent very aggressively. I didn't even remember that this was the scent of Zoey. I just felt madly inclined to kill whoever made this sweet scent and to savor the smell on their sweet, sweet flesh. I killed everything in my way until I finally found my prey. She wore a red skin and I needed to end her. Ignoring everyone else surrounding her. I tense up my legs and leap for the kill. One of them notices me and yells 'Hunter!' and I let out a blood-curdling scream as a bullet hits my shoulder and stops my momentum dead. One of the prey things runs over to me and says, "Hunter?" Seeing me chance, I reach for her, but the wound keeps me on the ground, I couldn't get up. I was so close to ending this girl I could literally taste her flesh. An older aged prey thing circles around me and ties rope around my hands. I roar in protest and try desperately to break free.  
The prey thing in the red skin gets very close to me and says, "Hunter, you're in a bad way right now, look into my eyes and remember who you are. What you have done for all of us!" I roar and snap at her. I hear multiple people pull out guns. "Please Hunter!" I yell out something that sounds like, "DIIIEEEE!" And an older lady with a slight limp yells, "Stop it Zachary, Stop it!" The mention of that name makes me angry, but it also makes me remember some things. And as I remember these things, they trigger the remembrance of more things. And eventually I remembered who I was trying to kill. How to speak. I was out of my insane state I had been stuck in. I was free again.

A roar generating in my throat dies out instantly as I broke down into tears. My eyes turned from Red to Brown. And Zoey embraced me.

"Oh Zoey" *sniff* "they t-tortured me. They changed me." I say in a very hoarse voice, "They fed me infected, they locked me in a room with no sound. I was going insane. I had all but lost myself to madness until..."

I looked at my Mom.

"Until... my Mom called me by my old name. Zachary..."

Everyone came up and hugged me. As I looked around, I saw one person who had yet to join in. Who was she? She was awfully clean and well kept. Her hair was a beautiful hazelnut color. It was Rose.

"Rose!" I yell as everyone moves over so I can embrace her. "Oh Rose. I'm so sorry you had to see me like that. I didn't remember anything."  
She looked at me and calmly said. "There is nothing to be sorry about. The only thing that matters is that we are back together again, and nothing will ever change that. Right?"

I smiled and agreed. Nothing would ever make me leave Rose or anyone else in the group for that matter. I would protect them, or die trying.

==============  
(A/N): The character that I pick from the reviews/ private messages will appear in the next chapter. It's going to be a lot longer to compensate for this shorter chapter! Good luck getting your character in the story, and don't worry. There will be more chances in the near future! See you next SUPER chapter!


	9. Friendly Nature, Rough Appearance

(A/N): Hello readers! Welcome to the SUPER CHAPTER! I tried to be more descriptive and interesting. More action is coming, as well as more of our new character! At chapter 15 or so I will introduce another new character, so be ready to give me your ideas at chapter 14 or so! Also, for the good man who gave me the idea for the new character, tell me if there is anything I should add about him in the next chapter to better represent him! Happy reading all! :D

Chapter 9:_** Friendly Nature, Rough Appearance**_  
- - - - - - - - - -

I couldn't sleep. I was just so overcome by what had happened to me in the past few months. I had become a true monster. I had eaten people. And I had tried to kill Zoey. I hated myself with every fiber of my being. How had I allowed myself to become so lost to the world? To be reduced to nothing more than a mindless beast looking only to get fresh blood on its hands? I thought about the horrors I had committed and I got even more depressed due to the fact I wasn't in my right mind and couldn't control my actions. I was embarrassed and afraid to be around my friends. Surely now that it had happened once they think it might happen again. Right? Since being reunited I was reserved. I rarely talked. I didn't want to re-trigger whatever had made me lose my mind. I also didn't want to remember the torture.

Torture was the only thing I could remember happening while I was imprisoned. When I thought about what had happened to me, I could feel myself slip away. I could remember the pain so clearly it was as if I was there again. They electrocuted me, almost drowned me, set my clothes on fire, and all for research? No. It had stopped being 'research' once they realized they could do whatever they wanted to do with us and could get away with it. They were sick, twisted individuals that just made me want to...

I think about it for too long and I begin losing myself. I let out a feral screech as I get angry and Rose quickly comes over to me and embraces me. I calm down as I breath in her scent. They did this every time I began to lose control. Every time I came back to reality, I could see tears in Roses' eyes. It made me feel so bad, that I was doing this to her. But I didn't apologize, I didn't smile. I just looked at her. I didn't know what was wrong with me! The first thing I should say is, 'I'm sorry.' or 'Are you okay?' But I didn't say anything! I just felt... Alone. Like no one would really understand what I was going through. I thought countless times about just, running away. So as not to put anyone in danger due to my unstable mental state. Instead of doing that, I just ran off for random periods of time. And tracked their scent to find my way back.

Speaking of sneaking off, I decided to do that now. When nobody could see me, I sneaked away and quickly climbed the side of a brick building. I would catch up with them later, I wanted to go vent out some anger.

I had no method for my wandering, I just went where the infected were in the biggest groups. And I would kill all of them. I found myself in some underground parking lot. And then eventually a giant generator room. Strangely, there were no infected in here.

I hear something from the side of me and turn to see a small metal object bouncing towards me. It begins to release smoke that causes me to cough uncontrollably and also blinds me. I was unable to move much because I keep bumping into random things. I heard something approach me. I turn and see a persons shadow through the cloud of smoke, and the next thing I know, I'm flying through the air from the sheer force of the persons single punch.

"Shit, it's a Tank!" I whisper to myself. Then, I see the person leap through the smoke towards me. "No it's a-AAGH!" He hits me square in the chest. This guy was built! The air was knocked out of my lungs. He rubs salt in those wounds as he then picks me up by the neck and begins to strangle me. He was wearing a hoodie under an old, black duster. His mouth and nose was covered by a gas mask. His eyes were a forest green color. I also saw that shine in his eyes that showed he was intelligent, like Rose. It was someone else like me! I am able to claw at his hands and he is forced to let go after about 10 straight seconds of my sustained abuse. Man, he was as resilient and about as strong as a Tank, but also had some of the agility of a Hunter! What kind of mutation was this? I am able to get away from him and I yell, "Hey, I mean you no harm!"

He looks at his wrists and says, "This says different." And then he charges at me, but on the way he grabs a pole and twists it just enough to snap and have a very deadly point to it. "Man he's resourceful!" I think as I pull out my gun and aim it at him. As I fire, he swings the pole just fast enough to deflect the bullets. But eventually the pole bends into a right angle. When he gets in range, he shoves it down the barrel of my handgun and I hear the firing mechanism break inside. I kick off of him and jump up onto a hanging platform. He looks up and yells, "Don't think you will be safe up there!" As he grabs a knife off of a dead soldier and throws it not at me, but at the rope suspending the platform itself. It tears right through it and I fall with a crash. As he approaches me he says, "I don't know who you are, but you are in MY territory." I count his steps in his heavy steel combat boots and fear the fact that he was approaching. "And any infected in MY territory DIES!" I very slowly get up and say, "Wait! I'm not like the other infected! I'm like you! I am not crazy!" He stops for a second and says, "Oh really? Well, the security monitors I was watching told a different story. You were on a massacre! Saved me a lot of work... but that doesn't change how you acted or what you did!" I look at him and say, "I was just venting some anger out on them okay? I've been through a lot. I really need to get back to my friends before I lose their scent so, please, let me go!" He looks at me with a curious expression and says, "Friends? Who?" I hesitate and he says, "Well, if you are lying to me I gue-", "No-no I have friends! They are a group of humans and one other like me and you! I'm protecting them until they can get to safety!" I blurt out very quickly. "Oh really?" He says, "I'm sure your telling the truth. And I'm being sarcastic if you didn't know." Of course I knew. "I'll... I'll show you them!" He looks at me for a few seconds and says, "Take me then." I get up and say, "Lets go."

It takes an hour or so. But I am able to catch my friends scent. I am constantly reminded of the fact that I am being followed by a Hunter/Tank hybrid that could kill me in seconds by the fact that his steps were so loud! I stepped so lightly you wouldn't even know I was there, but this guy could be heard walking from 50 feet away! However, now that we weren't trying to kill each other, he was a pretty calm and... peaceful guy! I guess he was only really a threat towards people he considered an enemy. Right now he seemed to be just soaking in the environment. At one point he said, "Even when it's destroyed, the city just finds a way to look beautiful." I agreed. Destruction, while bad, also created some pretty beautiful scenery. An earthquake in the center of town was an example. It was shaped like an asphalt rose. "I should show Rose that..." I think.

"They should be through here." I say as I lead him through an alleyway. We walk for a few minutes and we arrive at the place the group had stopped for the evening. They take out their guns and point it at the person I led here, and I quickly explain that he's a 'friend'. Rose approaches him and after careful consideration from a distance, she finally walks up and shakes his hand. And with that gesture, the whole group calmed their nerves towards him.

"So, what is your name anyway?" I ask him.

He looks at me with a small smile on his face, "It's Alexander."

I notice he had a katana with him for seemingly the first time. How had I not noticed that? He must have picked it up after our little fight back in his territory.

He came and sat next to us all around the camp fire. Right between me and Louis. As people asked him questions, it became apparent he did not like having all the attention. He was more of someone who liked to stay quiet and just listen unless he really had something he wanted to say. Also, he seemed to have a habit of calling members of the group 'brother' and 'sister' a lot. He also admits that sometimes he forgets he is even infected

I liked this new guy, he made things much more interesting. Alexander would fit in just fine if he agreed to come with us. "Would you like to join our group Alex?" Zoey asks with a hopeful voice. Alexander thinks about it for a few seconds, and once he comes up with a decision. He very confidently says "Yes, sister." And with that, we all welcome him to the group with open arms. We had good hopes for this guy, that's for sure.

I awaken before everyone else in a cold sweat. I had had a nightmare. However, I could not remember it. I look around and rub the bags under my eyes. I needed to get some good sleep soon, or I would die from sleep deprivation. These nightmares did not help though, they just kept getting worse. As I look around, I realize Alex is missing. However, I am able to pick up his scent and I find him on the roof of a building looking down at all the infected wandering aimlessly in the streets below. I approach cautiously and sit down beside him.

After an unbearably long period of silence, He says, "Sorry."

I look up at him and say, "There's nothing to be sorry about. I caused the fight to happen. My reckless endangerment caused it."

He looks at me and says, "So, why were you on that infected killing spree anyway?"

I sigh and say, "I was tortured by some scientists for 'research' after they caught me in a human compound. I-", "Wait, you were in a human compound? For how long?"

I look at him and he apologizes for interrupting and I continue. "I had been posing as a human for almost a year and a half. I was seen as a hero due to all the survivors I rescued. But when I was found out only the people you saw at camp defended me. They send the army troops in and arrest me, and they send me to the scientists. There, they tortured me to the point I became feral and tried to kill Zoey, the lady who asked you to join us. I break out, kill half the human population of the camp in my insane mental state, and then after trying to kill Zoey they are able to snap me out of it. A week passes, and then yesterday happened, and I met you while venting out my frustrations with what happened. And then fight, and then now."

He sits there, thinking, for a very long time. He was very much a thinker, only really being talkative when it was a one to one conversation. He looks at me and says, "I was captured once too, I was experimented on. It was very much like torture to me. They did something to me, whatever it was made me not only part Hunter, but part Tank as well. I didn't know their reasoning behind it at the time, and I still don't. Comparing the two mutations? Who knows? When I was free, the Tank in me took over. And I killed them all. However, I also have the thought process of a Hunter, the will to preserve my life and survive, to be more resourceful."

"And you very much proved that in our fight." I tell him.

"Yeah, I suppose I did."

We look down at the infected in the streets. I throw a pebble and it hits an infected in the head. It just shrugs it off. Alex tears out a small chunk of building and throws it at the same infected and it's head cracks open like an egg. I laugh.

"I can't stand the thought of experimentation or torture anymore... it just... sets me off." He suddenly says.

"Same here..." I say. "We are a lot alike you know? We understand each other. We can relate." I add as I look at him.

"We are, I'm glad we met... and that I didn't kill you."

"I'm glad you didn't kill me too."

We both smile and it eventually turns into laughter. We both had made friends today. And for once, I didn't feel alone. There was someone who understood me. Someone who cared and could relate.

We make our way back to the survivors just as the last one of them gets up, Elizabeth's daughter Beth. Alex sees her and gives her a gentle gaze. For a little kid, she wasn't scared. She actually ran towards him and gave him a hug. He picked her up and put her around his shoulders piggyback style. She was having the time of her life. Alex was very happy too.

"I hope she's okay with him..." Elizabeth says worriedly.

"Alex is a good guy, gentle. I would imagine he's very good with children. And it shows." I tell her to reassure her.

"It's not that. It's if she gets a cut, would she get infected if he touched it?"

"It doesn't quite work like that Ellie."

"Well, you haven't called me Ellie for a while," she looks at me. "what do you want?" She asks jokingly.

"I just remembered it. I think your daughter mentioned it once."

After we were finished packing we set off on our way. We were going to Riverside next. Hopefully there would be a compound there. If not, we would head for a city that had some sort of international airport at it. We heard they were giving plane evacuations so it would be a good plan B.

While taking inventory on the go we realized that we were running low on food. And that there weren't any places to get food on the next few blocks, so me and Rose would have to go make a run to go find some.

"I'll go too." Alex says.

I agree and we all scale the side of a nearby building. I make it first, followed by Rose, and Alex making it up last. As we leaped from building to building, I realized that Alex could not leap as high, but he made up for it by how fast he flew through the air due to his added weight. Using his weight to his advantage, he was easily able to keep up with us. We only had to stop once when we got to a building we could leap onto but he couldn't and had to climb a few inches to get on top.

We stop at a generic grocery store that seemed to be out of the way and had no broken windows, a good sign that it hadn't been looted yet. We find some over-the-counter medicine and antibiotics. We decide to take it with us for the survivors. I find a backpack and load all of the goods inside.

We stop at a few more stores looking for all the essentials, but obviously not finding everything we need. However, we do find a lot of protein bars, of which I hate with a passion, but their dry and cardboard flavor would be my savior if we ever did run out of food completely, so we pack a few small boxes as well in Rose's and Alex's backpacks they had also picked out for themselves.

As we walk out Alex says, "It's weird how there are no infected out right now, what do you think happened?"

"I was here a few days ago venting out my anger, new infected haven't stumbled in to take the place of their fallen brothers and sisters yet." I say.

"Are you saying brother and sister now too?" Rose asks curiously.

"No!" I say in a pouty voice and Alex and Rose laugh.

After a few more stops and not finding anything worth eating, we decide to head back to the survivors. "Where would we find them?" Rose says.

Her question is quickly answered as we suddenly hear a loud boom in the distance, followed by the sound of hundreds of infected around the city announcing their presence. The group had done something to attract them, and we had to get back. Fast. Before we leap onto a building, many infected zoom past us on their quest for blood. But, we quickly overtake the group by running and leaping on the roofs of the buildings. We were going into overload trying to get back to the group before anybody got hurt. We just hoped we weren't too late.

We get back to the group and we immediately dive into our own separate group of infected, slashing and tearing. This was the only time where me losing my mind came in handy. I lose myself in the thrill of the hunt. The excitement of drawing blood. Oh it felt so good! I just had to kill more! And more! I let out a shriek of joy as I jump into the air and dive bomb into another group of infected. I land on an infected's head, killing it instantly. And then I become a flurry of claws and teeth. Just trying to draw as much blood as possible. "What beautiful carnage!" I yell out in my deranged state. I was having a little too much fun, but I didn't care and couldn't even stop if I tried.

Meanwhile, Rose and Alex were fighting much closer together. Alex clawed the head of a military officers head off and then took the gun out of the holster and started firing. He slashed anything that got too close with his katana. He kicked the beheaded body into a group of infected and the hole it left gave him vision of Hunter. Alex was very happy Hunter was on his side, he didn't know he had this side to him. This was way worse than what he saw the day they met. Suddenly, Alex looks up as he sees a Smoker tongue wrap around his neck. He hears a high pitched Hunter shriek and sees Rose claw the Smokers tongue in half, and pull the side that was still connected to the Smoker violently. The Smoker could be seen falling off of a nearby fire escape. Alex thanks Rose for the assist and they continue fighting.

While total infected carnage was going on in one place, raining lead was coming from another. The survivors were holding out on top of two separate busses, Elizabeth's kid was handing everyone on her bus extra ammo, while Zoey shot and handed out ammo on her bus as well. Francis and Bill both throw a molotov in a way that surrounds the entire front end of both busses, allowing them to only have to worry about a few sides. They watched Hunter and the rest of his crew cutting down a lot of the work they would have had to do, and probably would not have been able to. The sheer amounts of infected where they were was like a solid brick wall, only a third of the infected made it through the three Hunters and the survivors were having troubles with even that amount.

Fighting continues for 10 minutes and eventually the last infected lost it's head to Hunter, now covered completely in blood and gore. Alex and Rose had been able to keep a large quantity of the blood on the asphalt away from them, but it looked like Hunter had been literally rolling in blood, and little did they know he had. Rose was able to calm Hunter down, and his crazy laughter subsides and goes back to being his normal self, minus the blood and gore.

The survivors survey the damage and check their ammo. They had been running on only their pistols and even those were out of ammo. They were lucky that they had three Hunters to protect them, or they would all have died in one of the biggest waves of infected they had ever seen. The blast had attracted half the city's original population to them, and it was a wonder they had survived at all.

"All this because a Tank blew up a gas station." Zoey says in disappointment. She looks into the distance at the flaming debris that did indeed use to be a gas station.

Me, Rose, and Alex join them and hand over our backpacks. I take off my completely dark red hoodie as well as my undershirt which causes both Zoey and Rose to blush. While Ezekiel, Bill, and Louis look through the goods they had brought back, they give signs of massive approval. "This is everything we need! Where did you guys go to get this stuff?" Louis says. "We went to several places." I say. I go over to Francis, and he gets out a fresh backup hoodie I had told him to carry in case of emergencies. It was an cool green color. He also gave me a black undershirt. I go to a nearby corner store and leave just minutes later sporting nice black jeans and a belt. I had also picked out boots that would not break my ankles if I jumped and landed wrong.

We stayed with the group for a while after that. We wanted to be there right when that happened next time. Beth almost got hurt, however, she had forgotten after a few minutes of piggyback riding on Alex's back. While we walked, Zoey cleaned my face, which was covered liberally in dried blood.

"You need to overcome this problem of yours Hunter."

"I know."

"I'm being serious."

"I know."

"And you aren't just saying 'I know' and you are listening to me, right?"

"I kn- wait what?" I say, catching myself before completely falling into another one of Zoey's traps.

We make it to a safe house, finally. On the walls inside they talk about some sort of vehicle someone had gotten ready in a nearby garage, below that, it tells someone named 'Eric' to forget about the car and that it was too dangerous to go to the garage. After consulting with the group, we decide that if the vehicle was big enough to hold all of us, we would take it.

"Let's just hope this doesn't turn out to be a huge mistake." I think as everyone agrees unanimously.

Time for a road trip.


	10. Insanity Gets You Into Trouble, Hunter

(A/N): I introduce yet another character! However, he won't appear again until a little later into the story. Thanks to everyone who has sent me character ideas so far, I'm looking forward to many more!

Chapter 10: _**"Insanity Gets You Into Trouble, Hunter"**_  
- - - - - - - - - -

Unable to sleep, I sneak out of the safe house and decide to scout for the way to the garage to insure we take the fastest route possible. It seemed pretty easy to get to, but, that was an easy thing to say when I didn't have survivors with me. It could take all day to get here with them. I spot another crying girl, Zoey told me they were called 'Witches' and that I should avoid them at all costs, so I'm glad I did when I first encountered one the first time without prior knowledge. But, how dangerous could that weak looking infected girl really be? I saw her giants claws, but that was no deterrent. Mine were much sharper than hers looked.

Ignoring Zoeys' warning, and my conscience, I jump off the building I was perched on to challenge her. I am stunned when she looks at me and I see her glowing orange eyes. She slowly gets up, growling and then yelling at me. She puts her hands up as a warning, visually saying "Back off now!" But I am unfazed. Finally, she loses her patience and runs at me, swinging her arms wildly. Using my agility I am able to dodge her attacks, but just barely. She was so fast! Much faster then the normal infected. I kick off of a wall after dodging one of her attacks and push her onto the ground. I then jump onto a nearby freight container and check a wound I had received from a slight graze of her claws. Whatever I had thought about her claws before was wrong, they were very sharp. Either that or she could swing them so fast that it didn't matter. What had I gotten myself into?

The Witch got up and was able to quickly find me. She was still furious. I jump down and stand my ground. She runs up and I am able to block her first attack and deliver a blow to her head. She flinches and grabs her face for a second, but that doesn't stop her for long. She quickly recovers and runs at me again. She brings her claw back up for the same attack as before, so I make an attempt to block it. However, what I didn't notice was her other hand. When I block her blow I am simultaneously impaled through the abdomen by her other hand. I immediately cough up blood. However, in my pain, I feel the weight of my gun in my pocket. I pull it out, and drive it into her left eye, and begin pulling the trigger, pulling it until all the ammo ran out.

The Witch knelt over and fell on me, not even she could handle that sort of damage. I forcefully pull her hand out of my stomach. In my immense pain, all I can think about are the others. I needed their help! I begin limping back, but I collapse. I am sitting there for minutes, but they feel like hours. I was bleeding out with no help. Eventually, I hear them in the distance and, with my last ounce of strength, I let out a very weak yell. I hear Zoey yell, but I can't make it out as I lose consciousness.

"Get out the stitching supplies Zoey! Louis, get out a clean water bottle! Francis, help me hold him down if he wakes up!" Bill yells frantically as he takes off my hoodie and undershirt to begin the painful process of stitching. Bill fishes a needle out of a first-aid bag and begins. First he applies a disinfectant, and the added pain of the liquid is enough for me to regain consciences for a moment to scream bloody murder. But after that I again enter the void and he gets some water, cleans the wound as best as he can, and adds more disinfectant. He then begins stitching. Zoey gets very worried as she notices I've become pure white, not the usual grey color I was normally. Bill says it's just blood loss, and without blood packs they had to hope I could naturally create more before I died.

Bill finally finishes after 2 hours, and they carry me to a nearby building and barricade every entrance. They would stay here until I could recover.

(One week later)

I finally regain consciousness, feeling a sharp pain in my stomach whenever I breathed. And upon feeling something touch my face I scream and claw at it.

"Hunter!" Zoey yells as she barely avoids getting clawed. I look at her, and in my stupor, she looks like someone else. Like the Witch.

"Get away from me!" I yell as I leap off the bed and through the window just as the others burst through the door.

It was raining outside, the street was flooded. I look to my left, and then to my right, and I run down the sidewalk to my left. I had to get away from the Witch. I run at full speed, veering out of the way of the one or two common infected there was in this pouring rain. There is a slab of concrete raised higher than the rest due to tectonic movement. In the rain I can't see it and I trip when my toe catches on the side. I slide and hit my head, as well as skin my knee. I get up slowly, I was more dazed than before. Everything looked fuzzy. I hear running coming from behind me and I scramble to begin and maintain my sprint. But before I can get some speed, the person tackles me.

"No! Let go of me! She can't catch me! I'll kill you!" I yell as I struggle violently to escape my captor.

"You need to calm down! The Witch was killed by your own hands! You should know that!" I hear Alex say in my ear.

"No, I just saw her! She's here!" I yell.

"You mistook Zoey as the Witch!"

"No!" I yell as I finally kick him off of me. He leaps for me again, but I dodge him and quickly scale the building to the left of me.

Alexander rejoins the others and informs them that he could not catch Hunter. He tells them of how he kicked him off of him and then leapt up a building he couldn't as quickly, and how when he finally reached the top to chase after him, he was gone.

"We just need to give him some time, he's never been hurt that badly before. He didn't know he could hallucinate like that." Bill says. They all agree, and decide to move on without Hunter. They knew he could find them. However, what they didn't realize until later, was Rose sneaking away, following the scent of Hunter.

"Gotta keep running, gotta keep running..." Hunter said quietly to himself as he ran across the rooftops. He didn't know if what Alex said was true or not. But he didn't want to take the chance. 'Better safe then sorry' as he said. He ran for an hour, not stopping until he could no longer physically run. And then He walked.

"What am I going to do?" I think. "I can't find the scent of the others, I won't be able to find them for a few days at best." "They wouldn't have been able to stop the Witch in time for it to hurt me though, so I made a wise decision."

I was aware that this action I had taken could be the effect of my insanity getting worse. I didn't know how to counteract my insanity, and where could I even begin to look? I could feel it eating away on my morales, virtues, and personality. It was taking over completely, and soon I won't even remember my name. It's all because of the torture, the torture...

I begin to lose myself again, but this time there is no one here to help me.

I could kill now, I could cause a little chaos. I could lose myself in a shower of the blood of my enemies, or anyone who crossed me. Who cared? Blood was all the same: Deliciously decadent.

I pick up the scent of someone nearby.

"Rose... time to have a little fun, she will not stop me this time." I laugh to myself. She wouldn't know what hit her.

From the top of the building I could see her walking on the sidewalk, she couldn't see me. I watch and think about what I could possibly do to her. I didn't want to kill her, no, as much as I wanted blood. She was still dear to my corrupt little heart, so what could I possibly do to her?

I see a car that has an alarm active right next to her. I pick up a small rock and chuck it at the windshield. The windshield cracks, and a loud siren emits from its interior. I see her jump at the sound and I watch as hundreds of common infected surround her, forcing her to jump away. However, she is jumping towards the building I am hiding on. I quickly scramble to find a new hiding spot. I notice that there is an industrial sized air conditioner on the building and it has just enough space to crawl under. I quickly get underneath it just as she makes it on top of the building, the infected quickly follow.

I watch her fight, rather skillfully at that, i was impressed! She was doing much better than I anticipated. The fighting when on for a good three minutes before all the commons were dead. She was surrounded by bodies and covered in blood. While she is hunched over trying to catch her breath, I sneak up behind her and embrace her. She is caught off guard as I pick her up in a bear hug.

"Good job Rose! That was a good fight!" I say as I put her down and she turns to look at me.

"W-what the hell Hunter?! You did that? I could have been killed!"

"Doubtful, you know how to handle a few infected!" I say as I move closer and wipe some blood off her face,

She watches with disgust as I lick at the blood on my claws.

"Are you okay Hunter?"

"I'm feeling great!"

"Then let's go back, we can't leave the others behind."

"But I haven't killed anything yet, I'm not going back."

"Was that what that was? You were trying to kill me?!"

"Of course not, I was just trying to distract you so I could get away, but you jumped on the building I was hiding on. So I had to hide over there." I point towards my hiding spot.

While she moves over to examine my hiding spot, I quickly sneak off and jump down into the alleyway. The blood on her clothes would overpower my scent, so I could safely get away without her knowing where I went.

"That didn't go as smoothly as I wanted, but now I can have my moment of chaos."

I travel until I find the biggest group of infected possible, in the old compound where I was tortured. The familiar atmosphere did not help my insanity, but I see that many of the scientists that experimented on me were now infected. I feel rage building in my chest and my throat emitted the most feral screech I had ever made to date. I go to town on all the infected. This was what I wanted, what I truly wanted to do. I didn't care about dying, as long as I was able to draw the blood of my enemies. They kept coming and coming, I was starting to get pretty battered, but I didn't care. "Blood, more blood! GIVE ME MORE BLOOD!" I yell as I continue to tear the infected to shreds. During my rampage, I realize that a lot of the commons have been distracted by something. I stop once all the commons seem to be ignoring me and running towards the entrance of the ruined compound. Someone, or something, was here.

I crawl along the ruined high school building and see a group of 8 survivors enter the compound. They are gunning down all of the infected, all of MY kills.

"Johnny, Davis, Dario, go with Marcus and check the high school to see if the armory is there, we will head towards their housing area and check there."

"Roger that Will." They all say in unison.

I watch them as they run down the street, the one they called 'Dario' was shooting the infected from afar with a military-grade sniper rifle. I would have to be careful, he would spot me easily. He was checking the rooftops, I could see an aiming laser, it was approaching me. I quickly duck behind a brick chimney and I wait for it to pass by. It doesn't.

"Hey guys, I think I just saw a Hunter up there!"

_"Shit..."_ I think.

"You sure Dar?

"Yeah, it's hiding behind that chimney!"

"_Great... Just great._" I think.

"Well keep your sights on it to make sure it doesn't come at us."

"I don't even have to keep an eye on it, I could just do this."

_"Wait, what is he-"_ **_Pow!_**

His military-grade sniper rifle had armor piercing rounds, went straight through the chimney, through my shoulder, and into the wall in front of me.

"**Raa-Aaarh!**" I scream out as I feel pain shoot throughout my whole body.

"I got the freak!"

"Good shot Dario!"

I try to get up and walk away, but I get shot at again, right through the leg. I stumble and fall off the the building onto my back. I writhe in pain for a moment and I scramble to get to my feet, a bullet flies past my head and hits the brick wall, sending brick particles into my eye. I get down on all fours and run, once I see the targeting laser in my eyes, I quickly jump and narrowly dodge it. I feel pain shoot through my leg and I am not able to land cleanly. I fall and hit my already injured shoulder.

"Chase him and put him down! He won't be able to escape very easily!"

"This wasn't a good idea," I think as the pain causes me to gain my sanity once more. "They are going to kill me without a second thought."

Bullets fly past me as I run down the street. Limping heavily, I am not able to move very fast, they were catching up to me quickly.

I give them another feral screech to tell them to back off, I couldn't form words in my mouth for some reason, must have been fear stopping words from forming.

"Ah shut you little bitch!" I heard one of them say.

I turn into an open building, the old infected holding cells. There was bound to be some bandages in the torture rooms, they had to give me them sometimes when I got too injured. I quickly limp to the last open door I could find, they would check all the rooms before this one, so it would buy me some time. I look through every drawer and find a few clean cloths that I push into my shoulder to stop the bleeding. And once I find a first-aid kit, I quickly take out the gauze and wrap it around my shoulder. I can hear them coming, so I quickly cut the gauze with my teeth and use the rest on my leg.

"Keep following the trail of blood guys."

"But there's blood all over the floor!"

"Then search every room!"

I sit and wait for one of them to enter. After a minute or so, the one called Johnny enters. He is looking at the blood trail, following it right to me. He sees that it ends at the table, I had applied the bandages there. I shift to get read to strike and I hit something and he hears and points his gun at me. I am hidden in the dark, he can't see me. He slowly approaches, and I leap.

I hit him full on in the chest while also forcing him to drop his gun by twisting his wrist. He tries to fight me off but I take my hand and send it right through his stomach, much like the Witch had. I put my mouth close to his ear and whisper, "Shut up. You little bitch." I could see color drain from his face as he heard the words. I grab his stomach and rip it out. Blood gushes out if his belly, the pain is so great, he can't speak. Only bleed out. I watch as blood begins to gush out of his mouth as he lays on the floor, turning white.

"John? Are you okay?"

They had most likely heard the commotion, I had to move quick. I find a rope, tie it around Johnny's neck, and hang him from the ceiling. I am then able to crawl under a table and through a vent to a room they had just been previously occupying.

As I get up in the other room, I hear them gasp.

"H-he's dead!"

"Something's hanging out if his stomach!"

"I think that... is... his stomach."

I hear one of them vomit, and at that, I decide to make my leave.

As I walk out the door, I am hit in the face by a very familiar sniper rifle. Dario had been waiting outside.

I am led to the center of the compound, one of them knees me in the stomach to wake me up. As I open my eyes while trying to catch my breath, I notice a very grubby, rough-looking man in a very faded and worn leather jacket.

"We found this freak while heading towards the school. Dario shot it twice, and knocked it out."

"Did he now? Well make sure you congratulate him, first day in the group and he's already pulling his own weight."

"Alright Will."

Will was a man in his early 60's. He looked wise and well-traveled, but also troubled over something.

The old man grabbed me by the collar of my hoodie and lifted me up with one hand, he was pretty strong.

"Now, do you know where the guns are boy? I know you're different, no use hiding it."

I look at him with fear and uncertainty. What would he do if I talked? What would he do if I didn't? I decided to take a chance, figuring I was probably going to die anyway.

"N-n-no, I used to live here, but I never saw the armory, I just guarded the perimeter and watched the children."

Everyone gets a look of surprise on their face as they hear me talk, even from the man who apparently 'knew I was different'. Idiots, the had no idea.

As he continued to talk to me about the nonexistent armory, I just pretended to listen as I cut at the ropes holding my wrists behind my back using my claws. These guys obviously didn't know what a Hunter was truly capable of.

"I hope you know what you are doing." I tell him.

"And what do you mean by that?"

"I mean, that you're in for a big SURPRISE!" I yell the last word as I tear the weakened ropes holding my wrists and I bring up my claws and claw him straight in the face. Some guy runs up to me with a baseball bat, but I just dodge it and slice his head clean off. After that, I do very much the same to Will. Someone grabs me from behind and I take a chuck out if his arm with my teeth, causing him to let go immediately. I hear a gun being loaded, so I duck and blindingly dodge a sniper bullet. I pick up Wills gun and I am able to drop three more of them. There was only 2 left. I jump into the shadows and I am able to stay in them as I move around my next target. Once I see an opening, I pounce him and rip him limb from limb, then I jump away as I dodge another bullet and it hits his friend who was bleeding out instead. Only Dario was left.

I jump up on the roof he was on, he tried to back away while aiming at me, but he stumbled and fell on his back, he tried to crawl away while pulling out a pistol, but I kick it out of his hand.

"Please, don't so this!"

I look at him and say, "This is your first day in the group right? So I'll spare you, lucky for you. Next time you should stick around smarter people."

I begin walking away and I hear him say, "So... so your just going to leave me here you infected freak?!"

I stop dead in my tracks, turn around, and grab him by the collar of his shirt and push him against the wall.

"I just spared your life, so you better start choosing your words very carefully." I show him my teeth.

"You see these fangs?" He nods. "They are capable of injecting the virus straight into your bloodstream."

I suddenly, without warning, bite him on the neck.

"Let's see how you live with this little present, courtesy of me."

I drop him, and turn to leave. I could hear him gripping his neck, crying. Pathetic. It's not like he was going to die.

I slowly limp out of the compound, and head straight for the garage that the survivors were heading for.

Hopefully, I wasn't too late to catch them.

(This was requested by a super funny guy, I couldn't resist.)

Zoey: Well, I'm glad you had fun while you were away Hunter.

Hunter: You aren't mad I killed other survivors?

Zoey: Of course I am! I was being sarcastic, when are you going to tell us?

Hunter: I'm not.

Zoey: So this conversation isn't canon to the story?

Hunter: Nope.

Rose: At least now that you have killed all the scientists that tortured you maybe you will be able to not go insane and leave me on a rooftop alone anymore?

Hunter: I won't make any promises.

Rose: Hunter!

Louis: Could I be mentioned in the story a bit more? I'm second least mentioned, next to your parents.

Hunter: I'll try to get you more involved, sure.

(Note: This section will be for YOUR questions to the characters in the future, or if you just want them to do something out of the norm.

See you all next chapter! :D


	11. It's Getting Worse!

- - - - - - - - - -  
Chapter 11: **_It's Getting Worse Hunter!_**  
- - - - - - - - - -

"Fire in the hole!" Zoey yells as she throws a pipe bomb into the wave of newly arriving infected. Zoey, and all the others, were fighting off wave after wave of infected while their getaway vehicle was being lowered. Alex and Rose were down among the infected,dropping as many as they could. My parents, Beth and Elizabeth, and all the others were on the top of a small one story building. Ezekiel and Francis were blocking the door up.

I am watching from the sidelines, on top of a tall building away from the action I desperately wanted to join. I had to find a good opportunity to jump in, if I jumped in too hastily, I could get shot by a stray bullet, and the infected would tear me to pieces. I see Zoey begin reloading and find my chance, I jump straight into the group of infected Zoey was just unloading into and begin doing work.

"Hunter, you're back!" I hear Zoey yell at me.

I give a happy yelp to tell her I had heard her, and then I unleash my endless rage.

"Carnage, destruction, anarchy, death! Oh! Soon it all will be mine!" I yell as I tear the infected apart. I see a hostile Hunter attempting to circle around and catch the survivors off guard. I vault off of a common and jump straight into him using my good shoulder. He does a backflip and lands cleanly. He snarls at me and I return the favor. After that,we jump for each other. He was obviously going for my jugular, a very primitive tactic. He had no intelligence in his eyes. The Hunter lifts its claw to attempt to slash at my throat. I dodge it and then, rather swiftly, I grab the arm and kick off of his chest. Effectively pulling the arm out of its socket. In his immense pain as he tries to desperately get his arm back into place, I run up and jam my claws right into his eye sockets. I hear him whine pathetically and then I begin to slice. I cut through bone, flesh, and more as I gave him a very sloppy lobotomy. He falls on the ground, and bleeds out. And I head back to the action.

I run up and dive straight back into the infected, however, this time I was side by side with Rose. I look at her and she smiles and turns to quickly end a common. I let out a laugh and continue on my rampage.

"TANK!" I hear Louis yell. I turn to see a Tank punch straight through a chain link fence. I jump straight for it.

"Hunter, No!" I hear many of the survivors yell. I didn't care, this Tank would regret crossing me! I stop to stand my ground and I am joined by Alex and Rose. We would fight it together.

As the Tank comes up to deliver a mighty punch, Alex runs right up and catches the fist in his hand. I could tell he was struggling to keep the fist in place, however, it didn't stop Alex from delivering his own punch right into the Tanks' stomach. Alex quickly backs off as the survivors begin laying down suppressive fire on the Tank. This gives Alex enough time to get a solid steel pole from inside. He steps on it, turns it, and steps on it again. And it makes a nice spear. He then ties his katana to the other end and runs back out to join us. While he was doing that, I had jumped on the Tanks back and was clawing at the muscles capable of allowing him to lift his arms. The muscles were too thick and strong for me to cut into very far though, and I am eventually thrown off. However, at that moment Alex came back and used the katana side of his staff to slice at the Tanks chest, he then spins it around and starts aiming for the eyes. He gets one, but the Tank grabs the pole and throws it off into the distance.

"He can't see as well anymore, we have an advanta-" Boom!

Alex was struck with a piece of concrete by the Tank, he was out cold. Rose, in a rage, runs at the Tank and begins to circle around it. She was able to dodge a few punches, but not all of them. She goes flying straight through a garage door.

"Rose, Alex!" I yell in a rage. I look at the Tank and yell, "You want to fight seriously?" I take off my hoodie. "**Then let's fight seriously!**" I run at the Tank full speed, I duck under one of the Tanks punches and athletically kick the Tank right in its lower jaw, breaking it. I kneels over in pain, but mostly ignores it as it runs in a fury towards me. I jump up above it as it tries to smash the ground in front of me and I give him a very strong kick, it was enough to get the Tank to fall on it's back.

"Now, **DIE**!"

I yell the last part as a shriek. The Tank wasn't made to ever be on it's back, it couldn't strike anything on its chest if it was on it's back, and couldn't get up if anything was on its chest either. I jump up on the Tank, and begin clawing at its chest.

Using my claws, I am able to begin peeling away at the Tanks skin, I get through the skin and right to the ribcage, I pry it open with much effort, the Tank screaming a rather pitiful scream. I begin to tear out the Tanks organs, starting with the lungs. The Tank begins to shake due to it having a stroke due to the sudden loss of all oxygen to the brain. I tear out the stomach, intestines, liver, everything. The last thing I pull out is the heart.

Everything goes silent around me. The infected were all dead, the survivors were just watching me, but I didn't know that. I begin to laugh maniacally, uncontrollably even. After I had finished my laughing, I look at the still-beating heart in my hands, and I take a bite out of it.

Zoey runs quickly to wake up Rose. She runs into the garage she flew into and finds her quickly, already getting back up.

~~~~ (This signifies a P.O.V change. Don't expect these very often.)

"Rose, you have to stop Hunter!"

"What's happened to him now?" I say worryingly.

"He killed the Tank by himself, but now he's losing himself again!"

"Oh no!" I say as I run past her to go outside.

I see Hunter holding the Tanks heart, he was surrounded with blood and gore, getting into the dirt and grass. As I watch him, he takes a bite out of the heart! And it wasn't his first one!

"Hunter!" I yell as I run towards him. He looks towards me with his usual face he has when he's losing it, an unsettling smile and bulging eyes. I run up and embrace him. He laughs as I do so, blood oozing out of his mouth and onto my cheek and shoulder.

"Find yourself Hunter! Find yourself!" I whisper into his ear.

His breathing slows down gradually, and his laughter dies out. He passes out in my arms. He was getting worse everyday! I just wish I could do something but all I knew what to do when he got like this was how to calm him down! I begin crying as I watched him sleeping in my arms. This was the only time he looked peaceful! Like how he was when he met me...

_I have a dream._

_I see myself, gone insane and killing my friends, my family, leaving Rose for last. I can hear Rose begging for mercy, but all I do is laugh and raise the Katana of the now murdered Alex, and cut her head off._

I wake up with a scream, and realize that I was in a bus.

"Welcome back, Hunter." Louis says as I wake up. He was sitting right across from me. "Lucky this was a bus huh? If it wasn't we probably would have had to leave someone behind!" I smile at him and nod. Zoey comes over and hands me a cup of hot chocolate.

"Here, it's starting to get cold, need to stay warm, right?"

I just stare at her for a few seconds when I realize I should reply to her. "Oh, uh... yeah! Thanks, Zoey."

"Don't mention it Hunter."

I look at the drink and think, "What is hot chocolate?" I take a small sip and it burns my tongue. I would have to drink it slowly. I look out the window at the wilderness quickly passing us by. I had never seen trees this big before!

"Do trees always get this big?" I ask Francis, who was looking out the same side behind me.

"Nah, only certain kinds. These are called pine trees, they get very tall because that way they can get more sun."

"Read that out of a history book? I've never heard you sound so smart before Francis!" Bill said from the front. He was giving directions to Ezekiel, who was driving.

"Ah shut up old man! I'm still waiting to see if your beard is infected, but maybe I won't take the chance and get rid of it while you're sleeping tonight!"

"If my beard is gone by tomorrow, I'll kick your ass Francis."

I laugh and return to looking out the window, we were entering an off ramp and going onto the freeway now. We see a store, and we decide to stop and scavenge.

"Man, this place has everything!" I hear Louis say as we look around.

"And, it's so far out of the way it hasn't had most of its stuff taken yet." Zoey says.

I take Roses hand and lead her to the clothes. She needed new clothes, she had been wearing the same hoodie since we met, and it reeked of blood (my fault) and other such unrecognizable scents. We find a black hoodie with a giant print of a red rose in the front. It was perfect for her, after that, we find some nice black pants and some black shoes.

After I had found some clothes for her, she grabbed my arm, laughing, and took me to the men's clothing to pick me out an outfit. She finds a denim jacket with a cloth hood stitched in on the inside. With that, she finds a new pair of tan khakis, and nice brown shoes. I pick out a nice dark grey undershirt and put on the denim jacket. I zip to up and the finish putting on the rest of my clothes. After we were done admiring our fashion sense, we went to go find the others.

We found Zoey drooling over shampoo.

"Do you guys KNOW how long I've gone without a shower? They didn't have any working showers back at the base!"

We nod and decide to go find Francis.

We find Francis arguing with Bill over a display of various rifles.

"I'm telling you gramps, this gun is better."

"Son, I am a war veteran. I know my guns, and that gun is most definitely NOT worth it!"

We smile at their usual antics and go see where the others are.

We find Beth and Elizabeth in the children's section. Beth and Liz were picking out coloring books and small toys to keep Liz occupied when traveling. I find a red children's rucksack and give it to Liz so she can hold all of her stuff.

"Like I said Hunter, you are really good with kids!"

"Oh you!"

Ezekiel is in the electronics section mourning over how there is no more electricity, he used to be a computer technician.

We find Mom and Dad looking through clothes like we were, trying to find a good jacket for the colder weather.

Alex is in the literary section looking at a few books. He has a few under his shoulder, and I walk over and pick out a book that I think would be interesting to read in my free time.

"'_Eragon_'... does this look good to you Alex?"

"Oh yes, it's a very interesting fiction."

"Fiction?"

"As in, make-believe."

"Oh."

I tuck the book into a backpack and the proceed to take it. As I walk around the store, I pick a first aid kit, beef jerky, a hunting knife, a hunting rifle, ammo, a stronger scope, a pillow, and a backup handgun. Rose does the same.

Once we were done looking around we exited and went back to the bus, we would have a few minutes to have a private conversation.

"I'm glad I found you, Rose."

"Hmm?" She says questioningly.

"You are the only person who can control me when I lose myself, thank you."

"You wouldn't even be insane if I hadn't gotten hurt in our plan to get me into camp."

"I am at fault for that! It was my plan, it wasn't your fault that it went wrong. It's mine."

"You say that, but I know that it's my fault you're so unhinged and unpredictable."

"Rose..."

"It's my fault you were tortured for 3 months. My fault that you can't control your actions, it's my fault for messing up your head!"

"Those burdens are mine to bear, but I can handle it!"

"You call what you did to that Tank a few hours ago handling it?! You are getting worse Hunter! Soon, I might not be able to stop you!"

"What happened to the Tank... I did that for you! He hurt you, so I hurt him harder!"

"Hunter, you _ate_ half of its heart!"

"Well, yeah but-"

"Do you call that sane?!"

"Well no, but-"

"You looked at me, like you were going to kill me! That's how you always look when you change, and I just hope I can still calm you down before you act on your insane urges! I love you, but I don't like what I've done to you!"

"YOU DIDNT DO-" I calm myself. *sigh* "You didn't do this to me, the scientists did. I'm insane because of them, because I made you try to enter the compound."

Tears were in her eyes. "But, Hunter..."

I put my hand up to her mouth to shut her up."It's not your fault, and it never will be. The blame is on the man with the plan, not the people who follow it out perfectly."

She looks at me and wipes the tears from her eyes. "Okay, Hunter."

I give her a hug just as the rest of our group begin piling in. I sit back in my chair and fish my book out of my bag, I would read this until we reached out destination.

(A/N): I am seriously glad people are enjoying this story of mine, it's nice to see! Also, remember that questions you ask in the reviews or in PM's to me could appear in the authors notes at the end of each story! The next chapter will be about a little adventure Alex has, and will be in his P.O.V as well!

Anyways, please review if your heart desires it, and I'll see you next chapter!


End file.
